The Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner to benefit the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis is one of the most high profile and best fundraisers in the world of sports and philanthropy. The 24th installment of the Dinner took place this past week in New York City.  Congratulations to this year’s honorees and to Marc and the Buoniconti family.

You can read about the event at http://www.miamiproject.miami.edu/Page.aspx?pid=503, with an excerpt provided below. You can also learn more about The Fund at http://www.miamiproject.miami.edu.

(Excerpt)

TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL GREAT SPORTS LEGENDS DINNER RAISES MORE THAN $6.3 MILLION

Master of Ceremonies Bob Costas Joined Legends Troy Aikman, Clyde Drexler, Mike Piazza, Ivan Lendl, Rusty Wallace, Brett Hull, Dara Torres, Pat Day, Chris Waddell Who Were All In Attendance and Apollo 11 Astronaut Buzz Aldrin Made a Special Appearance

Additional $10 million Pledged by Anonymous Donor for The Miami Project

New York, NY (Oct 6, 2009) – NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti and his son Marc hosted a full house of 1,300 guests at the 24th Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner, held at the Waldorf=Astoria, to benefit The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis.  They were joined by sports legends, philanthropic heroes and business leaders who were all gathered to support paralysis research.  The 2009 Great Sports Legend honorees were Troy Aikman, Clyde Drexler, Mike Piazza, Ivan Lendl, Rusty Wallace, Brett Hull, Dara Torres, Pat Day and Chris Waddell.   Sports broadcaster Bob Costas returned as Master of Ceremonies.

Other Honorees were President, CEO and sole owner Kinray Stewart Rahr who received the 2009 Outstanding Philanthropist Award; Chairman Emerita of TotalBank, Adrienne Arsht who received The Buoniconti Fund Award;  Managing Director, Allen & Company, Chairman of The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, Jack Schneider who received The Barth A. Green Spirit Award;  and Writer, African-American activist and educator, Dr. Maya Angelou who received the Buoniconti Fund Humanitarian Award.

An additional highlight of the evening was a surprise pledge from an anonymous donor for $10 million to fund the human clinical trials initiative at The Miami Project.

“It’s always a thrill to be in the presence of such legends and leaders in the sports and business arena.  The support that we continue to receive year after year is astounding and validates the work we are doing as significant and meaningful.  I look forward to when we can walk side by side with those who are paralyzed by spinal cord injury.  We all know that this can happen to any one of us, which is why we need to stay focused on a finding a cure,” says Nick Buoniconti, founder of The Buoniconti Fund.

(The press release continues at http://www.miamiproject.miami.edu/Page.aspx?pid=503)