CV Weekly’s Top Men & Women’s 2016 Party a big success!

The venue was opulent, the food was decadent and the crowd was as interesting and diverse as it was enthusiastic. On Thursday, Sept. 29th, friends, family and colleagues of the distinguished honorees gathered to celebrate 24 of the most interesting and influential people in the Coachella Valley.  Twelve men and twelve women whose work, passions and accomplishments range from business, to politics, to music to philanthropy/non-profit work and beyond were honored at an event that will certainly not be soon forgotten. The fabulous, Venus de Fido spa, “for pets and their people,” played host to an event that revealed many touching moments and a tangible sense of unification throughout the night.

It was a time for gathering together folks from all walks of life to celebrate and give recognition to 24 truly talented and intriguing individuals for their tireless work, creativity and innovation in their fields.  As deserving as the Top Men & Women were, just as deserving are the charities they chose to represent at the event. Each of the 12 Men and each of the 12 Women had the name of their charity written on an enclosed card and at the end of the evening one woman’s name and one man’s name were drawn with those two charities splitting all of the door proceeds, which totaled $1750.00. The two charities drawn were Go Red For Women, David Herrlinger’s charity, and Loving All Animals, Janet McAfee’s charity, each receiving $875.00. Loving All Animals also was given half of the bar proceeds for the event, which totaled $1550.00 with their half being $775.00. And the person of the Top 24 Men & Women who brought the most people was: Janet McAfee with her charity Loving All Animals also taking half of the raffle, which was an additional $400.00 for them.

So Loving All Animals was awarded a total of $2,050 and Go Red For Women $875.00. Not a bad night for those 2 charities.

Look forward to this being an Annual event every September to honor the Top Men & Women of the CV and their charities.

CV Weekly would like to thank our sponsors for this event: Lulu California Bistro, Cliffhouse Restaurant, Crater Lake Vodka, La Quinta Brewing, Musician’s Outlet, Farley Pavers, Lotus Elixirs, Stuft Pizza, Skitzo Kitty, New Age Glamour, MaiSalon, BloDry Bar, Record Alley, Brenda Martin, Dr. Maria Lombardo, SIP Coffee, Knight Gamble Chiropractic & Massage, Evolve Yoga, Date Shed and of course, Venus de Fido for hosting the event. We would also like to thank all of the volunteers at Loving All Animals who worked so hard to make this event run so smoothly along with Robert Chance, Linda Elizabeth, Julie Montante, Sarah Hendricks for running the front door. And a big thank you to Chris Miller for taking the Cover photograph of the Women’s issue and Robert Chance, CV Weekly’s Art Director for making the covers look so good. And most of all Thank you to Top Men & Women for being part of this.

(Photos by Esther Sanchez)