amfAR to Honor Dionne Warwick and Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger at Third Annual Palm Beach Gala
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tom Ford to Present to Ocleppo Hilfiger, Barry Gibb to Present to Warwick
Sting to Perform
Palm Beach, FL, February 13, 2024 — amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, will honor Dionne Warwick and Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger in Palm Beach on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at its third annual fundraising gala. Julianna Margulies will be the evening’s host. Seventeen-time Grammy Award-winning artist Sting will give a special performance at the event, which will take place at the home of Event Chairs James and Lisa Cohen. Actress and singer Amber Riley will also be performing a touching tribute for honoree Dionne Warwick. Tommy Hilfiger and Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger, John and Amy Phelan, Howard and Michele Kessler, Barry Gibb, and amfAR Board Co-Chairs T. Ryan Greenawalt and Kevin McClatchy will join the Cohens as Chairs of the event.
The exclusive event will include a cocktail reception, a seated gala dinner, a live auction of exquisite contemporary art and luxury experiences, and award presentations.
Inspired to act because of the loss of her valet to AIDS very early in the epidemic, Dionne Warwick embarked on a remarkable journey of activism that continues to this day. In 1985, Dionne invited Elton John, Gladys Knight, and Stevie Wonder to join her in a collaborative rendition of the song “That’s What Friends Are For” as a fundraiser for amfAR. All four artists, as well as songwriters Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager, generously agreed to donate every cent generated by the recording, which raised millions of dollars for AIDS research.
“Few in the entertainment community have done as much to support the fight against AIDS as Dionne Warwick. We are so grateful to her for her unwavering commitment to the health and wellbeing of all people living with HIV and we are thrilled to be able to recognize Dionne’s decades of generosity and activism by presenting her with amfAR’s Award of Courage” said amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost. Warwick’s Award of Courage will be presented by Barry Gibb.
Philanthropist and activist Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger has actively and generously supported a range of important social and humanitarian causes including amfAR and several organizations focused on autism. She serves on the boards of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and GLAM4GOOD, a nonprofit that empowers people in need through fashion and beauty. Ocleppo Hilfiger will receive amfAR’s Philanthropic Leadership Award, to be presented by celebrated filmmaker and fashion designer, Tom Ford.
“We applaud Dee Ocleppo Hilfiger for her outstanding leadership, compassion, and generous contributions to numerous important causes including amfAR and the fight AIDS, as well as breast cancer, autism, and many others,” said Frost.
At amfAR’s second annual Palm Beach Gala in 2023, award-winning singer and actress Jane Krakowski and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Kelly Clarkson performed. Actress, comedian and author Jane Lynch was honored. The event raised over $3.5 million for AIDS research.
This event will be generously supported by Givenchy, Chateau Malartic-Lagravière, Piper Heidsieck, Bacardi / Grey Goose / Bombay Saphire, Flecha Azul, Uovo, and RUMOR Rosé.
About amfAR
amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, is one of the world’s leading nonprofit organizations dedicated to the support of AIDS research, HIV prevention, treatment education, and advocacy. Since 1985, amfAR has raised nearly $900 million in support of its programs and has awarded more than 3,800 grants to research teams worldwide.
Contact: Bennah Serfaty, amfAR Senior Director, Communications, bennah.serfaty@amfar.org
Credential Requests:
Melissa Rubenstein, melissa.rubenstein@amfar.org
Maureen O’Sullivan – MOREPB@aol.com
Sarah Yansura Cooke – sarah@sycpr.com