Photo Flash: Rita Cosby, Richard Thomas and More at NMA's GIVE KIDS A SHOT Gala

The annual National Meningitis Association (NMA) Give Kids a Shot Gala was once again an emotion filled evening but a stellar success in aiding the fight against meningitis, a potentially vaccine preventable disease. Held in the elegant ballrooms of the historic New York Athletic Club with phenomenal views of Central Park as a backdrop, hundreds of New York's movers and shakers turned out to support the cause and also to congratulate meningitis survivor & Para Olympic Gold Medalist Nick Springer, an Honorary Chair along with Ambassador & Mrs. John L. Loeb, Jr. Scroll down for photos from the event!

Guests mingled over cocktails and hors d'oeuvres while poring over the dazzling array of Silent Auction gifts from breathtaking jewels to one of a kind fashions and even a commemorative bottle of Medea Vodka with an LED message from Richard Thomas shimmering across the bottle like a Broadway marquee.

NMA President Lynn Bozof and Committee Co-Chairs Sara Herbert Galloway, Gary Springer and Lenore Cooney swirled through the room greeting friends and introducing this year's honorees: Dr. William Schaffner, Health Achievement Award Honoree for his advocacy of the role of vaccines in protecting individual and community health; Cindy Krejny, Moms on Meningitis Outstanding Service Award for her tireless efforts to educate the public about meningitis and her work with Ohio lawmakers to mandate vaccination for college students; Massachusetts State Senator Jack Hart who pushed the passage of a mandatory vaccination in his home state, with the Nancy Ford Springer Inspiration Award and NASCAR record breaking winner Kyle Busch & his wife Samantha with the Community Leadership Awardfor the work of their Kyle Busch Foundation in support of programs that aid disabled and disadvantaged children around the country.

President Lynn Bozof gave moving testimony to the reason everyone was gathered - to prevent this dreaded disease by having pre-teens and teens vaccinated.

Well known author and broadcast journalist Rita Cosby, filling in for longtime NMA host actor Richard Thomas, who was filming, kept the evening running smoothly. Unexpectedly, Thomas showed up on a break from shooting Law & Order SVU to personally congratulate the honorees and thank all the supporters.

The National Meningitis Association (NMA) is a nonprofit organization founded by parents of children who have died or live with long-term effects from meningococcal disease, also called bacterial meningitis. NMA works to protect families from the potentially devastating effects of meningococcal disease by educating the public, medical professionals and others about the disease and its prevention. The NMA network also provides critical emotional support for families who have been affected by meningococcal disease. Additionally, NMA raises awareness of other preventable diseases and recommended vaccines across the lifespan.

Honorary Chairs for the event were Ambassador & Mrs. John L. Loeb, Jr. & Para-Olympic Gold Medalist Nick Springer; Gala Chairs Lenore Cooney, Cooney/Waters Group, Sara Herbert-Galloway & Gary Springer, Springer Associates PR; Vice Chairs, Joanna Goldenstein, KPMG,LLP; Barry J. Klarberg Monarch Wealth & Business Management.: Ulrika "Red" Nilsson, Redcircle International, Inc. & Heike M. Vogel, Arent Fox LLP; Auction Chairs, Matt Klarberg, Monarch Wealth & Business Management and Errol Rappaport.

Honorary Committee included Michael Badalucco, Susan & Hon. James A. Baker III, Lynn Grossman & Bob Balaban, Steve Buscemi, Victor Calise, Commissioner Disabilities, Mayor's Office, City of New York, U.S, Senator Susan Collins, Judy & Rod Gilbert, Adam Graves, Amy Madigan & Ed Harris, Lainie Kazan, Felicity Huffman William H. Macy, Chenoa Maxwell, Congressman Michael M. Michaud, James Naughton, Congresswoman Shelly Pingree, Heather Randall, Susan Sarandon, Joe Sirola, U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe, Liv Ullman.

Committee members included Stewart Lane & Bonnie Comley, Norma Abbene, Jeri Acosta, Eileen Boyle, Lynn & Alan Bozof, Peggy & Mike Bressler,ElizaBeth Browning, Lori & Curt Buher, Lorraine C. Cancro, Elizabeth Cier, Terry M. & J. Price Corr, M.D. , Thomas Cook, Rita Cosby, Christine Delisle, Jamie deRoy, Bonnie Pfeifer Evans, Robert Farber, Laura & Jack Fitzpatrick, Jeri Brooks, Greenwell, Jonathan Hadaya, Laura & Ken Hartwig, Charlotte & Harvey Hodges, David Hryck,, Lucia Hwong-Gordon, Susan James, Marcie L. Kammel, Nikki Klarberg, Josh Klein, Jeffrey Kramer, Donna & Michael Laforgia, Lucy Jane Lang, Marian Koltai-Levine & Dan Levine, Kedakai & James Lipton, Ida Liu, Barbara & Earl Magdovitz. Leslie Maier, Cindy Marinangel, Chenoa Maxwell, Kevin McGovern, Sherri Michelstein, Jennifer Mocbeichel, Jan & Michael Planit, Susan & Peter Purdy, Frank Recchia, April Sandmeyer, Cassandra Seidenfeld Lyster, Jean & Martin Shafiroff, Allison Strassberg, LaForce + Stevens, Carol & Gerald Tufano, Carolyn & Rick Waghorne and Mr. & Mrs. John Wukovits III.

Medical Committee includes Richard Besser, M.D, ABC News; Paul Offit M.D. Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Nancy Snyderman, M.D.NBC News.; James C. Turner, M.D., Professor of Internal medicine, University of Virginiaand Dr. Roger W. Yurt, Chief of Burn Surgery, NY Presbyterian Hospital, Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Also attending were Logan West, Miss Teen USA 2012 & Emma Kenney, teen star of Showtime's "Shameless" ; Bree Michael Warner, star of Nickelodeon's "I Carly" and NMA Teen Ambassadors, brother and sister, Justin and Alana Galloway.

To bid on the Online Auction at Charity Buzz, go to: http://www.charitybuzz.com/auctions/nma/catalog_items?locale=en&page=1. For more information about NMA's life-saving work, visit www.nmaus.org.

Photo Credit: Rob Rich

Nick Springer, Gary Springer

Jim White, Ulrika Red Nilsson, Errol Rappaport, Thomas Cook

Joe Sirola, Gozzo Sirola

Barry Klarberg, Sara Herbert-Galloway

Cassandra Seidenfeld Lyster

Michael Hudson, Bree Michael Warner

Bree Michael Warner

Cassandra Seidenfeld Lyster, Joanna Goldenstein, Lynn Bozof

Nick Springer, Senator Jack Hart

Elizabeth Cier, Gary Springer, Nick Springer, Olivia Springer

Stewart Lane, Bonnie Comley

Anna Wilding, James Sved

Katlean de Monchy, Lorraine Cancro, Rita Cosby, Lynn Bozof, Sara Herbert-Galloway, Tomaczek

Rita Cosby, Tomaczek

Victor Calise, Norma Abbene, Nick Springer

Miss Teen USA 2012 Logan West, Gary Springer

Rita Cosby, Gary Andreassen, Lorraine Cancro

Lucia Hwong Gordon

Richard Thomas

Lucia Hwong Gordon, Joy Marks

Ambassador John L. Loeb, Nick Springer

Cindy Marinangel, Engels Santana, Errol Rappaport, Robert Farber

Erica Lynn Lacombe

Dr.William Schaffner, Dr.Richard Bessa

Cindy Krejny, Lynn Bozof

Honorees Senator Jack Hart, Cindy Krejny, Samantha Busch, Kyle Busch, and Dr. William Schaffner

Performers Jeff Sewell, Betsey DiLellio, Andrew Ragone

Kimberly Woods, Elizabeth Cier

Justin Galloway, Nikki Klarberg