On Saturday evening, August 10th, Love Heals, The Alison Gertz Foundation for AIDS Education hosted Let’s Misbehave, its 17th Annual Hamptons benefit. The sold out, 200 person event held at the Wolffer Estate Vineyard raised over $195,000!

Celebrating the glamour of the Roaring 20’s, hosts Nicole Trunfio, Bibhu Mohapatra,  Dini von Mueffling & Ted Sann, Chele Chiavacci & Richard Farley, Howard Horowitz, and Samantha Marcus Yanks, dined with guests and friends in the vineyard while enjoying fresh summertime cocktails from Patron – Midnight Madness, Pyrata Pamelo and Basil Patrón. In keeping with the evening’s Gatsby theme, after dinner, guests danced the night away to jazz band extraordinaire Art Baron and The Duke’s Men.

KDH was on the committee for this great event and I so admire my friend Dini’s unstoppable dedication to the Love Heals organization, which she co founded in honor of Alison Gertz, empowering young people in the fight against HIV and “ensuring that Ali’s HIV prevention message did not die with her”.

KDHamptons asks Dini von Mueffling about her 2013 goals for the organization:

Dini: Our goals for Love Heals are to keep doing what we do so well, to keep the conversation and education about HIV/AIDS going among young people. This disease is entirely preventable if you know how to protect yourself. Love Heals is the ONLY organization devoted to prevention in New York City, making us a critically important resource. We also want to focus on boys and young men.

We have had a successful peer-to-peer program called LEAP for Girls for years now. We need to focus on the boys. And we want to continue to be there in every way for the teens who seek out our speakers and educators with questions far beyond HIV/AIDS. We have found that in
talking openly and honestly, we often become sounding boards and advice dispensers for other issues. We take this very seriously.

KDHamptons: What was the highlight of the evening for you?

Dini: Overall, I thought it was a fabulous night and everyone raved about the new venue which was great to hear. I think the highlight of the evening for me was looking out over the room and seeing all the people who turned out to support us, and who did it decked out in Gatsby style!

Fashionable guests included: Kelly Bensimon, news anchors Alina Cho, Gigi Stone and Chris Wragge, Marla Maples and daughter Tiffany Trump, producer Arden Wohl, stylist Amanda Ross, Eric Villency, Jean Shafiroff, fashion designer Susan Beischel, philanthropist Yaz Hernandez, art dealer and producer Edward Tyler Nahem, attorney Richard Farley, Jill Martin and Polina Proshkina, among others.

About Love Heals

Founded in 1992 to carry on the work of the late AIDS activist Ali Gertz, Love Heals empowers young people to become leaders by giving them the knowledge, skills and confidence to protect themselves and their communities from HIV. Love Heals’ HIV-positive speakers break down stigma and make the disease real for young people living in communities hardest hit by the epidemic. The leading provider of HIV/AIDS education in New York City public schools, Love Heals has partnered with more than 700 schools and community groups throughout the metropolitan area, educating and empowering more than 600,000 young people, parents, guardians, educators, and community leaders.

**For more information please go to: www.loveheals.org