GNYHFA cruise raises $3,000 for LOVE charity
By Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, November 9, 2009
New York — Members of the Greater New York Home Furnishings Assn. took a cruise here and raised $3,000 to benefit LOVE, a charity that helps troubled young people.
More than 100 members and guests took part in the Sept. 9 boat trip around Manhattan and a silent auction that followed.
Chris DeLisa, president of GNYHFA, and Lou Massood and Tom Leflein, executive board members, said the group was proud to partner with LOVE, which is short for Leave Out Violence. Also supporting the cause was Carlos Bakery of Hoboken, N.J., which is renowned as TV channel TLC's "Cake Boss" and donated a cake for the auction.
LOVE was started in Canada more than 10 years ago by Twinkle Rudberg, whose husband was stabbed to death in 1972 by a 14-year-old homeless boy and gang member who was under the influence of drugs.
In response, she decided something had to be done to help troubled youths like the teenager. She created LOVE to focus on the causes of teen violence — neglect, isolation, lack of mentorship and domestic abuse.
The organization has helped thousands of young people and now has a number of chapters in the United States and Canada. Information is available online at leaveoutviolence-us.org.
