"Motown Magic" was the theme of the annual "Kidney Ball" held at the Marriott-Detroit Renaissance Center last night!! It was an absolutely amazing experience!!When I learned about this event I wanted to go. My maternal grandmother died of kidney failure in September of 1986 before I was born. I wanted to honor her memory this Christmas by attending the Ball and I am so glad I went! I honestly don't know alot about kidney care or anything about the Foundation, but in one short night I learned quite a bit.
The event started out with a silent auction, followed by a delicious Angus Beef dinner. Next we saw a powerful video and story about a young girl named Natalie Polachowski (see picture) who very suddenly experienced kidney failure. She is such an inspiration and the sweetest girl! After the dinner, Christopher, from Christopher's Flowers, was the emcee/auctioneer for the live auction!! He was fantastic!! He is the same Christopher who provides the flowers at our Michigan Teen and Miss Michigan USA pageants! There were 12 "live" auctioned items and one sold for $26,000!!!!!!!!!!!The generosity of these people was mind-blowing!! I couldn't believe it!! And all of the money went toward the Kidney Foundation! How cool is that???
Seated at our table was a woman who yelled out, "You are wearing my crown & banner!!" She told me that in 1979 she won the title of Miss Michigan Teen USA!!!! What a small world! Her name is Sandra Finkelstein and she won the Congeniality Award at the Miss Teen USA at nationals that year!! She was the shortest contestant at the pageant at 5'4" and said she had a blast competing at Nationals and reassured me I would too! We became fast friends and I am sooooooooo glad that we met! She is awesome!
Before the night began, I was waiting in the beautiful Marriott hotel when the Dallas Cowboys football team walked in!! I got a picture taken with one of them, but at this writing, I don't know his name!! He didn't know mine either so we were even!! :)
This Kidney Ball is much like the Silhouette Ball I will be attending in NYC so now I have got my "feet wet" so to speak!! And I can't wait!
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