Friday, September 25, 2009

Jazz For A Great Cause

Monday night, my friend Rachel and I went to History Start Now’s Live Jazz cocktail benefit at Pranna in Gramercy.

History Starts Now: Rachel and me at the Live Jazz event

Held in the trendy Pan Asian restaurant’s inviting downstairs space, the semi-formal event featured hors d’oevures, signature drinks and fabulous musicians -- and sobering statistics about child trafficking.

Founded last year, History Starts Now uses a multi-media approach to raise awareness for the fight against sex trafficking of minors in the U.S. According to the group, 300,000 children are trafficked in the U.S., with 10,000 trafficked in NYC alone. The average age of most victims is 12-14 years old.

After talking with charming and well-informed HSN co-founders Rachael Lechliter and Kristina Lee Grandstaff, Rachel and I caught up on recent events. I told her about the end of my summer fling and upcoming second date with cute photographer Ali. She filled me in about her trip Down Under to Sydney, her former hometown.

Another charming Aussie ended up joining our conversation, Perth-born musician Mark. Part of a trio called the Out of Towners (his bandmates are from Japan and the U.K. respectively), Mark and co will be performing at Sugar Bar on October 13th.

Speaking of upcoming calendar-worthy occasions, History Starts Now will be hosting a winter event, one of four annual fundraisers. For more info about the group, click here.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I'm famous!!! Can't wait for more worthy cocktails when I get back from Oz!!!