Karla K. Morton

FORT WORTH _ Karla K. Morton, 2010 Texas poet laureate, will headline Cuisine for Healing’ s third annual Survivors in Style: An Evening of Fashion, Food and Wine. The event is set for 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. April 26 at Cenderea Center, 3600 Benbrook Highway.

Cuisine for Healing, a non-profit organization dedicated to making nutritious, delicious food readily available to cancer patients and others combating disease, will be the beneficiary of the evening featuring Morton. A lifelong poet, as well as a wife and mother of two, she was diagnosed with breast cancer in May, 2008.  She is the author of Redefining Beauty.

The cocktail hour benefit event will feature a fashion show celebrating the lives of local women who have survived cancer. The evening will also feature complimentary wine and champagne, appetizers and raffle prize drawings.

The program has prepared, packaged and delivered more than 13,000 Cuisine for Healing-certified meals to cancer patients in need since the program began a little over two years ago, according to Sue Austin, Cuisine for Healing board president. Founded by Wendy Wilkie in 2006 as she battled cancer, Cuisine for Healing is a non-profit organization dedicated to making nutritious food readily available to people combating disease, while providing education about the power of healthy food.

Park Cities residents Amy Llana and Anna Small will co-chair the Feb. 4th fundraiser.

Dallas-Fort Worth women are invited to The Clayton Dabney Foundation for Kids with Cancer’s 10^th“Kissed by an Angel” event from 7 to 1o p.m. Feb. 4 at the Bluffview home of Jenney and David Gillikin.

The evening of food, fun and cocktails will feature a silent auction, raffle, and an exclusive sale of bath, body and scented home products from Niven Morgan.  Proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the Clayton Dabney Foundation for Kids with Cancer to help ease emotional and financial burdens for families facing terminal childhood cancer. 

Park Cities residents Amy Llana and Anna Small will co-chair the fundraiser where the requested attire is “winter white.”  Tickets are $75 per person.  Out of each ticket purchased, $60 is considered a charitable contribution and will go to the Clayton Dabney Foundation.  To purchase tickets, contact the foundation office at 214-361-2600 or visit www.claytondabney.org. 

 A special hotel package will be raffled at the event, including an overnight stay at Hotel Palomar Dallas, a $50 gift certificate to Trader Vic’s, a $50 gift certificate to Central 214 and spa services for two at Exhale Spa.  Tickets for the raffle are $25 each or $100 for five.

“We hope the Kissed by an Angel event will help generate greater awareness about the Clayton Dabney Foundation for Kids with Cancer and its goodwill on behalf of families in need,” said Amy Llana, event co-chair.  “Not only will this be a fabulous night out for women and their girlfriends, but the funds raised will have an immediate impact on families when they need it most.  If we can help make the last stages of life more bearable for these children and their parents or help make a dream come true before they pass, there is no greater gift.”

Created in memory of Clayton Dabney, a Dallas child who lost his battle with cancer in 1995, the Clayton Dabney Foundation helps grant anonymous gifts, last wishes and financial assistance to families facing the last stages of terminal childhood cancer.  Clayton’s parents, Park Cities residents Shelby and Scott Dabney, founded the nonprofit. 

Since 1995, the foundation has served more than 1,300 families throughout the U.S, and has distributed more than $2 million.

Amy Jones

Amy Jones, who many knew as an inspirational speaker, lost her battle with cancer Friday.

A former Miss Hurst-Euless-Bedford, Amy was a ray of sunshine on even the cloudiest of days. She will be missed by many.

A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. Friday at the Berg Center at Dallas Baptist University, followed by a celebration of life in the Mahler Center on the university campus.  A private family burial will precede these services.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to Dallas Baptist University, 3000 Mountain Creek Parkway, Dallas TX 75211 or Journey of Sisters Ministry, 1540 Keller Pkwy., Suite 108, Keller TX  76248.

Although she didn’t live a  long life, she did more in her short years than many people do in 90. Her upbeat personality brought a smile to those around her, which is a great accomplishment, but her lasting legacy will be the Journey of Sisters. www.journeyofsisters.org

My sympathies to her family.

For more information, see caringbridge.org or visit amykjones.

The comedy troupe 4 Out of 5 Doctors will fill the prescription for laughter.

The 8th Annual Thursday Night Live!, a lively fundraiser benefiting Gilda’s Club of North Texas. is set for 7 p.m. Thursday at the Lakewood Theater, 1825 Abrams Parkway. 

This year’s event will feature entertainment by “4 Out of 5 Doctors,” a comedy troupe that couples improv comedy with musical parodies.  The Gilda’s Club fundraiser also will include cocktails, heavy hors d’oeuvres and live and silent auctions.

“It’s about good friends, fun food, giggle-inducing cocktails, an amazing auction and side-splitting comedy,” said Sandy Ammons, director of development and communications. “And it’s all to benefit Gilda’s Club.”

The cocktail reception will begin at 7 p.m., entertainment will start at 8 p.m. and live and silent auctions will end the evening.  

Since 2002, the Thursday Night Live! event has raised more than $1.2 million to support Gilda’s Club North Texas (www.gildasclubtx.org).   Thursday Night Live! was created to honor the late Gilda Radner, who died from cancer, and her late-night comedy on Saturday Night Live.

The evening’s goal is to raise funds for Gilda’s Club of North Texas, which serve patients with any kind of cancer. The organization’s mission is to provide a nonresidential, home-like meeting place for people with cancer and their families and friends to join others, building emotional and social support as a supplement to medical care.

 ”This event is critical to the success of Gilda’s Club and our ability to serve families impacted by cancer,” Cindy Schneible, CEO, Gilda’s Club North Texas.

Membership at Gilda’s Club North Texas has grown to 2,400 men, women, children and teens.  The Gilda’s Club program is provided free of charge.  Contributions generate 100 percent of the operating budget to provide cancer support for the entire family.

A table of six for Thursday Night Live! is $1,500.  Individual tickets are $350.  For more information about Thursday Night Live! please contact Jessica Roberts at jroberts@gildasclubtx.org, Gilda’s Club North Texas, 214-219-8877.