Stars Come Out In Georgetown During Starlight Children’s Foundation Gala!

GEORGETOWN -- The stars aligned on Saturday evening with beautiful weather and an equally striking setting at D.C.’s prestigious Four Seasons hotel, during the 12th annual Starlight Children’s Foundation MidAtlantic’s ‘Taste of the Stars’ gala.

Created in 2004 through the merger of the Starlight Children’s Foundation (founded by Dynasty TV star Emma Samms and her film producer cousin, Peter Samuelson) with Steven Spielberg and Samuelson’s Starbright Foundation, the organization provides education, entertainment, and family events that help sick children cope with the pain, fear, and isolation created by prolonged illness.

The foundation’s ‘fun centers’ brought out the inner-child in guests.
The non-profit accomplishes this through a variety of “high-tech” and “high-touch” programs that are designed to distract children from their pain, help them better understand and manage their illnesses, and connect families with others facing equally challenging situations through the creation of an all-inclusive support community.

And this past weekend, the mid-Atlantic chapter of Starlight united in Georgetown to celebrate the success of the region’s programs and services and to help raise the necessary funds to continue said initiatives, with a crowded black tie affair. Indeed, in 2010 alone, the foundation provided a record-breaking 2 million hours of entertainment to more than 200,000 children actively receiving treatments.

Starlight Chairman Tom Woteki presents Dr. David Nelson, on behalf of Georgetown Hospital, with the night's Peter Samuelson Founders Award.

Georgetown Entertainment Group’s Franco Nuschese was honored with the night’s Community Star Award.
Guests began the evening with an elegant cocktail and wine reception, before being ushered into the hotel’s main ballroom for dinner and the award presentation and live auction portion of the evening.

Mingling about the crowd of District luminaries, which included Washingtonian Publisher Catherine Merrill Williams, C-SPAN senior producer and host Greta Brawner, gala Chair and local real estate and banking executive Jim Bell, Washington Life Associate Publisher John Arundel, among many others, were a handful of the smiling young beneficiaries of Starlight’s efforts, including four year old Trent Johnson and musical prodigy Zhané Taylor-Watson, who also delighted attendees earlier in the evening with her performance of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”.

At approximately 10:00 p.m., members of Starlight’s Young Professional Council joined their more senior counterparts at the hotel, for the evening’s dessert and dancing reception. There, under the (projected) stars, the crowd proceeded to sip, sup, and spin the night away to the musical stylings of The Fabulous Fantoms.

A very bright starry, starry night!