Clayton Clavette and Michael Capponi and a host committee including yours truly, along with a number of other positive contributors, presented James Bond Casino Night at La Gorce Country Club benefiting CDifferent. It was a fun-filled evening with Miami Beach trendsetters dressed to the nines trying their luck at casino games and high stakes poker with $20,000 in cash and prizes.

Sure we are a party town, but when need be, we put our parties to good use to raise money for a cause.

Since South Beachers party 52 weeks a year, 7 days a week, New Years Eve is almost anti-climactic. How can we outdo what we do everyday? And how do we top the big bashes of Basel and last year’s NYE party?

For Art Basel 2009, I decided to produce a party with a message and thus, “Eco Artland 2009” was born. There was a buzz about reducing your carbon footprint on the planet fueled by Al Gore releasing his new book, “Our Choice”, A Plan to Solve our Planet Crisis, I gave my artists the mandate to create eco-friendly art installations. The outcome was both exciting and educational and tantalized all the senses.

After a 7 year itch in 2008, this year’s 8th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach proved that “the art fair as a species is not endangered”. Karen Rosenberg, New York Times

Giving is a good thing. Last week, Hope Gainer had the privilege of attending two marquis fundraising events in NYC. Both were held at Cipriani; one on Wall Street and the other in Midtown on 42nd Street.