MIAMI, October 20, 2011 – City of Hope will celebrate cultural, historical and medical milestones in “An Evening with Lucie Arnaz” to benefit the institution’s world-renowned bone marrow transplant program. The show will take place on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 8 p.m. at the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center and celebrates the 35th anniversary of City of Hope’s pioneering transplant program, which recently performed its 10,000th transplant, a milestone only a few centers in the world have reached.
VIP tickets, which include premium seating, a three-course dinner with wine, a reception with Arnaz and more, are $150, and available at 800-584-6709. Reserved seating tickets are $60 to $75 and can be purchased through the Aventura Arts & Cultural Center box office, online at AventuraCenter.org or by phone at 877-311-7469 (SHOW).
“It is my honor and pleasure to help City of Hope mark these wonderful and exciting milestones,” said Arnaz. “They have worked hard for the past 35 years, and I’m proud to be a part of their continued efforts supporting bone marrow transplant research. I hope you will join us.”
Arnaz, iconic entertainer and daughter of showbiz royalty Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball, commands the stage to sing showstoppers from her Broadway debut, “They’re Playing Our Song,” along with new arrangements of favorite standards by such luminaries as Ira Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter and Johnny Mercer. The program will feature Latin tunes her father made famous, as well as a song that will forever be associated with her legendary mother.
“Time is the most precious gift we can give to patients battling life-threatening diseases,” said Shari Meehan, senior director of development for City of Hope’s Southeast Region. “Supporting City of Hope advances scientific innovation and helps save lives worldwide.”
The show is locally sponsored by El Dorado Furniture, Morton’s The Steakhouse and Whole Foods Market.
City of Hope was one of the first medical centers in the U.S. to perform a successful bone marrow transplant in 1976. Today, the institution maintains one of the largest bone marrow transplant programs in the world.
Bone marrow transplantation involves taking stem cells from donor bone marrow and transplanting them into a patient whose bone marrow is compromised by leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma, other cancers or genetic disorders. The transplanted stem cells can then develop into normal blood cells, and the patient essentially gains a new immune system.
According to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), 70 percent of patients in need of a bone marrow or stem cell transplant rely on a donor from outside their family. Their lives depend on finding genetically matched strangers from the NMDP Be the Match Registry®. City of Hope works with this registry to recruit donors and collect stems cells.
