Sheila O’Boyle (left) and Anne Bright are preparing for the Lupus Foundation of America Southeast Florida Chapter’s Closet Couture Luncheon, set for April 11 at Benvenuto. Photo provided
By Christine Davis
When the subject of lupus comes up, everyone knows a loved one or friend who’s suffered from the disease, said Gulf Stream resident Sheila O’Boyle. “It’s amazing how out there the disease is. But most people don’t know what it is and what its side effects are.”
O’Boyle is co-chair with her friend, Delray Beach resident Anne Bright, for the Lupus Foundation of America Southeast Florida Chapter’s Closet Couture Luncheon, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m April 11, at Benvenuto restaurant in Boynton Beach. The event will feature a fashion accessories and specialty baskets auction, lunch and guest speaker Laura Clark, a specialist in anti-terrorism methodology and author of Security for Women, the Evolution of Empowerment.
Like the clothes and accessories to be auctioned at the luncheon, taken from the closet and displayed on mannequins for all to see, O’Boyle and Bright want the disease out in the light of the day, and under the microscope, too.
Money raised from the event, which costs $85 per ticket, will be used for the organization’s support services, education, and research.
Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. Inflammation caused by the disease can affect joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs.
It affects people differently, is not contagious, infectious or cancerous and it affects 1 out of every 185 people, mostly women (90 percent), but also men and children.
“I was diagnosed with lupus 28 years ago,” said Bright, 69. “But I think I’ve had it since I was 9 and the doctors didn’t catch it.
“Lupus is no fun. It’s a very frustrating disease.”
Bright has volunteered for years, merging her organization, the Lupus Society, with the Lupus Foundation in the 1980s. Over the years, her husband, Reeve, has served on the foundation’s boards both nationally and locally, and Bright’s many friends have become involved, too.
“I call them up and beg them to be on committees that put on fundraisers,” she said. “We have members on the luncheon’s committee who have lupus, but they get sick. It’s the others on the committee who get things done.”
The luncheon, now in its third year, replaced the foundation’s Butterfly Ball gala that was held at Mar-a-Lago, said the chapter’s CEO, Amy Kelly-Yalden of Boynton Beach. “Because of the economy, we readjusted the events we were having. We wanted to do the luncheon to appeal to a larger audience, and that’s how the Closet Couture Luncheon came about.”
Kelly-Yalden, 41, lost her sister to lupus, and has been with the organization since November 2007. “Erin was 32 when she passed away,” she said. “She was 19 when she was diagnosed.”
It is not known what causes the disease, Kelly-Yalden explained, and before the FDA approved Benlysta in 2011 (which was the first drug specifically designed to treat lupus), patients were given steroids and anti-malarial drugs.
“We need more treatment options because lupus affects everybody differently,” she said.
“In the last decade, we have made changes. Lupus has its own definition, now. We have treatment options in clinical trials and there’s much more awareness about the disease.”
Last year, the chapter raised $45,000 at the luncheon. This year, they raised the bar to $60,000.
The chapter also raises money through three walks a year. The next one is May 18, scheduled to coincide with Lupus Awareness Month.
“More than 4,000 people attend the walks,” Kelly-Yalden said. “Our overall goal is to raise $200,000 this year.”
For information on sponsorship or to attend the luncheon, contact the Lupus Foundation of America, Southeast Florida Chapter at (561) 279-8606, option 2, or email jcedeno@lupusfl.org.
Comments