For the past 16 years, friends of the Michael and Bess Economos family of West Hartford, Ct., had no problem figuring out what they would do to celebrate Valentine’s Day:
Attend the Valentine Ball to raise money for leukemia research at the University of Connecticut Health Center and to help the families whose children have been stricken with cancer.
Not counting Saturday night’s Valentine’s Ball at the Marriott in Hartford, more than $2 million has been raised by Lea’s Foundation for Leukemia Research. Saturday’s like auction raised, $18,100, the silent auction raised $11,385, the book and other donations added $156,510 for a grand total of $186,000. About 275 people attended this year’s event.
“Last year was $190,000 so not bad at all in this economy!,” said Jaime J. Rotatori-Trajcevski, president of JJ Promotions, Inc., of West Hartford, who is co-chair of the event and does much of the heavy lifting.
Virtually every penny that is donated goes directly to fund research and to help victims. That research is on the cutting edge of science.
Everyone involved – from the full-time director John Namnoun to the board of directors, volunteer their time. That is one of the reasons my wife and I and most others give as much as possible to this worthwhile charity. Even though we never had the pleasure to meet Lea Economos before she passed away in 1992 at the age of 28, we have been blessed to be friends of the family for many years and only the flu kept us away from the ball one year.
The hundreds of people who attend the ball each year know the story of how it was started. When Lea was nearing the end she asked that instead of mourning her passing that each year there be a black tie event to celebrate life and raise money so that others would not have to face the hardships she endured.
Michael’s and Bess’s friends and family took up the call and within two years the first ball was held. Radio Host Brad Davis of WDRC-AM, 1360, became the master of ceremonies and has had the role every year. We all look forward to him pushing the bids up for the live auctions: many of which consists of expensive dinners donated by the owners of restaurants like the Peppercorns Grill, Piccolo Arancio, Grants, Max’s, and Restaurant Cabones. The dinners fetch $2,000 and up each.
Dozens of others donated other items for the silent auction. The two auctions recently raised more than $100,000 each year (will get the latest data soon and will fill in more names for the captions).
I just want to tell you a little about Michael and how he and I met. When I was working for The Courant (which by the way took out a full-page ad in the ball’s magazine), I was assigned in the late 1980s and early 1990s to work full-time investigating Colonial Realty and firms it worked with. One was Landmark Bank, where every director but one borrowed money – most of whom never repaid it.
I wanted to meet the man who was on the board, owned hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of stock (like all board members should) and, despite pressure from other board members, never borrowed a dime. Brian Woolf, a former Connecticut banking commissioner, was Michael’s attorney and he was and is a good friend of mine. I asked Brian to set up a meeting with Michael. Michael soon became one of my idols, a man who uses the wealth he created to help others in need.
Michael and Bess deserve the support of their cause. If you want to learn more about it, go to http://www.leasfoundation.org/.
- Michael Economos talking with guests
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