Typically at charity benefit luncheons, it is the audience that gifts the guest speaker with generous applause, but at the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women luncheon jewelry designer Kendra Scott magically turned the tables as waiters swept through the Hotel ZaZa ballroom carrying trays of her signature yellow boxes — earrings for all the guests.
AHA's Shelly Millwee described it as "an Oprah-esque moment" as the 410 guests gleefully tore into their boxes.
Scott shared the story of her beloved step-father and his advice to her to "Just do good." Those three words, she said, have become the guiding principle that paved the way for her highly successful jewelry line.
Scott shared the spotlight with Texas Heart Institute patient Alaina Dixon, who suffered sudden cardiac death 20 yards from the finish line of the 2011 Chevron Houston Marathon. She was revived following the administration of CPR and AED electrical shock, both key science discoveries of American Heart Association funded research. Congenital heart disease was the cause. She received treatment and today is doing well.
The luncheon raised $400,000 for the AHA thanks to the efforts of supporters including Go Red for Women campaign chair Cheryl Byington, Trini Mendenhall-Sosa, Susan Hansen, Robin Mueck, Roz Pactor, Mariella de Jong, Melissa Edwards, Amy Pierce, Joan Eischen, Joann Crassas and Lilly Andress.
Holly Hicks, from left, Elizabeth Rhoden and Kristin Rodriguez at the American Heart Association Go Red for Women luncheon.
