The 31st Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner
Benefits The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis
Monday, September 12, 2016, at 5:30 p.m.
Waldorf Astoria Grand Ballroom
301 Park Avenue, New York City
305-243-4656 (Stephanie Sayfie Aagaard)
SAagaard@Miami.edu
Join NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti and his son Marc to celebrate the 31st Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner, taking place on Monday evening, September 12, 2016, at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. The event will benefit The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis. Over the last 30 years supporters, honorees and guests of the Great Sports Legends Dinner have raised funds and awareness for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis’s groundbreaking research. As the fundraising arm of The Miami Project, The Buoniconti Fund hosts one of the premier sports recognition events in the nation. The highlight of this terrific evening is paying tribute to “Great Sports Legends” from different sporting categories, who inspire and motivate others to stand up for those who can’t.
The Buoniconti Fund will recognize the 2016 Sports Legends and Honorees: Mariano Rivera, Venus Williams, Curtis Martin, Willis Reed, Dario Franchitti, Tara Lipinski, Cheryl Miller and Diana Nyad. Actor Christian Slater will be awarded the 2016 “Buoniconti Fund Award;” James L. Nederlander the “Outstanding Philanthropist Award;” Wayne Newton the “Humanitarian Award;” and Buzz Aldrin the “Great American Icon Award.” Great Sports Legend Chairman Mark Dalton will receive the 2016 “Christine E. Lynn Champion for a Cure Award.”
NBC News Anchor Lester Holt will serve as the Master of Ceremonies for this grand event, and guests will enjoy a live performance from the cast of the smash hit Broadway musical “On Your Feet!,” the Gloria & Emilio Estefan Musical.
The phenomenal benefit, chaired by Mark F. Dalton, offers a sensational opportunity for supporters to mix and mingle with sports greats, television and film celebrities and generous philanthropists who will enjoy fine dining, spectacular entertainment and the chance to purchase amazing items in the event’s one-of-a-kind auction.
Individual tickets for the dinner are priced at $850 or $1,500, which includes preferred seating. Tables of ten are available, priced at $8,500 and $15,000, $25,000, $50,000 and $100,000, which includes seating with a Legend. For information and reservations, contact Stephanie Sayfie Aagaard at 305-243-4656 or by email at SAagaard@Miami.edu.
About The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis
The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, a Center of Excellence at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, is considered the premier investigative research program conducting cutting edge discovery, translational, and clinical investigations targeting spinal cord and brain injuries. The Miami Project’s international team includes more than 300 scientists, researchers, clinicians, and support staff who take innovative approaches to the challenges of spinal cord and brain injuries.
The Miami Project’s clinical trial program currently includes autologous Schwann cell transplantation, therapeutic hypothermia, Riluzole, deep brain stimulation, and brain machine interface. Our discovery program is investigating immune modulation, scar formation, and regeneration mechanisms after injury to better enable development of future interventions. In 1985, Barth A. Green, M.D. and NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti helped found The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis after Nick’s son, Marc, sustained a spinal cord injury during a college football game. Since then research at The Miami Project has changed the landscape of knowledge and therapeutic strategies for spinal cord injury and traumatic brain injury. Committed to finding a cure for paralysis resulting from spinal cord injury and to seeing millions worldwide walk again, the Buoniconti family established The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis in 1992, a non-profit organization devoted to assisting The Miami Project achieve its national and international goals. For more information visit www.TheBuonicontiFund.com.
