The Lunchbox Fund Gets a Little Help From Its Friends
The Wall Street Journal
Seunghee SuhThe scene at the Lunchbox Fund's benefit dinner with Sting, Michael Stipe, Liv Tyler and more...
IT'S ONLY FITTING that food would be an especially high priority at a benefit dinner for the Lunchbox Fund, a nonprofit that provides meals for impoverished children in South Africa—and aims to feed 50,000 a day by 2017. There was no rubber chicken in sight at the Manhattan event, held last Monday night at the newish namesake restaurant of chef Gabriel Kreuther.
"He just got a Michelin star," said Topaz Page-Green, the model-turned-philanthropist who founded the organization 10 years ago. "We presented the charity to him and it just resonated. He offered his restaurant and a four-course meal." Among the attendees who partook of the artichoke soup and baked dorade were director Spike Jonze, actress Liv Tyler, Sting and Michael Stipe. Despite the high-powered guest list, the evening had the feel of an intimate gathering of friends—likely because many there were already acquainted, both with each other and their hostess. Ms. Tyler, who met Ms. Page-Green when both were in their early 20s, said, "She was the first friend who had an idea and made it happen." Actress Olivia Wilde recalled that she befriended the hostess through novelist Salman Rushdie a couple of years ago. "The organization works in a really authentic way," said Ms. Wilde. "With philanthropy that's what I'm drawn to the most."
Ms. Page-Green, her hair scraped into a high ponytail, wore a sweetly subversive beribboned tweed dress by Prada, which sponsored the event. Without seeming overly concerned about fashion, the crowd performed its dress-up duties well, particularly Ms. Wilde in a floral Valentino dress toughened up by a black leather biker jacket.
During the event, the crowd had the chance to bid digitally on various artworks—the centerpiece of which was a limited-edition print by artist Jordan Wolfson—via online auctioneer Paddle8 (the auction is open to the public through Nov. 9). "I mostly get asked to give work to art institutions," said Mr. Wolfson, also a friend of Ms. Page-Green. "This was a special opportunity to support something outside the art world."