9TH ANNUAL DELETE BLOOD CANCER GALA
EVENING TO BE HOSTED BY RANDY JACKSON
SPECIAL PERFORMANCE BY KESHA
NEW YORK – MARCH 5, 2015 – On Thursday, April 16, 2015, Delete Blood Cancer DKMS will present its ninth annual Delete Blood Cancer Gala at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. The gala will be hosted by record producer and TV personality, Randy Jackson, co-hosted by Delete Blood Cancer Co-Founder Katharina Harf, and co-chaired by Coty Inc., a leading global beauty company.
This year, the Delete Blood Cancer Award will be presented to Marcel R.M. Van Den Brink M.D., Ph.D., Head of the Division of Hematologic Oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in recognition of his extraordinary research and advancements in bone marrow transplantation.
“I am honored to be a part of raising awareness of a terrible disease that continues to affect the lives of countless individuals,” said Randy Jackson, “The team at Delete Blood Cancer works tirelessly to make it as easy as possible to become a bone marrow donor and dispelling any misconceptions associated with donor programs. This is sure to be an incredible and inspiring evening.”
The evening will feature an unforgettable live performance by international superstar, KESHA.
“I am honored to be working with the awesome people at Delete Blood Cancer and performing at the gala,” said Kesha. “They work every day to save lives and keep the hopes of families and communities lifted. Everyone who is a part of this evening is so inspiring and I feel fortunate to be a part of it.”
The signature highlight of the evening will come during a miracle moment, when a patient is introduced, for the first time, to the unrelated donor who saved her/his life.
Delete Blood Cancer works every day to delete blood cancer by inspiring as many people as possible to register as bone marrow donors so more patients are given second chances at life. By celebrating how donors can save lives, Delete Blood Cancer dispels the myths about the donation process.
“My inspiration is my mother. I experienced first-hand how hard it is to lose a loved one. My dream is that every patient in need of a donor finds a perfect match. This is my mother’s legacy and I’ve made it my life’s mission to grow the number of donors on the bone marrow registry,” said Co-Founder Katharina Harf.
For the second year, supermodel and face of COTY global cosmetic brand Rimmel, Georgia May Jagger, will serve as the Global Ambassador in the fight against blood cancer. “If I can encourage someone to register as a donor, I can contribute to a life being saved,” said Georgia May Jagger, “I myself am a registered donor and will continue to spread the word about this inspirational cause.”
Coty is the founding corporate sponsor since 1996. “We are thrilled to be supporting Delete Blood Cancer for the 9th year,” added Bart Becht, Chairman and Interim CEO COTY. “We cannot thank Georgia enough for all the amazing work she’s done, not only for our brands but for this important cause.”
ABOUT DELETE BLOOD CANCER DKMS
Delete Blood Cancer DKMS is part of the world’s largest network of donor centers. We have helped register more than 5 million potential donors and facilitated over 47,000 lifesaving transplants around the world. But we’re not stopping there. Every day we lead the fight against blood cancer by working with families, communities and organizations to recruit more donors and provide more patients with second chances at life. Delete Blood Cancer DKMS America is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. For more information or to register as a bone marrow donor, please visit www.deletebloodcancer.org.
ABOUT THE COTY-DELETE BLOOD CANCER DKMS PARTNERSHIP
In October 2006, Coty Inc., leading global beauty company, joined Delete Blood Cancer DKMS as its founding corporate sponsor by establishing the Coty-Delete Blood Cancer DKMS partnership in the fight against blood cancer. Coty has leveraged its strong celebrity partnerships to raise awareness of the disease, having raised over $8.5M over the last 8 galas, and recruited thousands of donors around the world, including 1,812 registered Coty employees worldwide. Additionally, Coty has assisted Delete Blood Cancer DKMS in establishing independent DKMS organizations in the U.S., Poland and the U.K., with plans to open more offices across the globe. Leukemia, a blood cancer and one of the leading causes of cancer deaths worldwide, personally affected the Coty family when the wife of former Coty Chairman and Board member Peter Harf succumbed to the disease in 1991. Coty’s Global Ambassador for the cause, Georgia May Jagger, will also attend the gala for the 2nd year in a row. Ms. Jagger has used her star power to register donors and build awareness for the cause.
ABOUT RANDY JACKSON
Randy Jackson’s fearless and forward-thinking mentality has guided him from musician, songwriter, and Grammy Award-winning producer to revered record-industry executive, business entrepreneur, best-selling author, talent manager, television producer and beloved television personality. All of this stems from Jackson’s passion for music. Jackson has lent his talents to hit records by Smokey Robinson, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, and Madonna, to name a few. Meanwhile, he also entered the rock ‘n’ roll realm, recording and performing with legendary musicians such as Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, Keith Richards, Journey, Carlos Santana, Jerry Garcia, Bob Weir, and countless others. All in all, he has over 1,000 gold and platinum plaques to his name, with collective sales exceeding 200 million copies. Turning into one the highest-rated television shows of all time, Fox’s American Idol became a phenomenon that yielded some of the most crucial artists of the twenty-first century. As the program’s longest-standing panel judge, Jackson reached an iconic status within pop culture. His charitable work includes his role as Goodwill Ambassador for Save the Children U.S., as well as his involvement with the Gibson Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities, the Music in the Schools program of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, and the T.J. Martell Foundation, which honored him with its Lifetime Music Industry Award. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, he was one of the architects of the multimillion-dollar fundraiser, Idol Gives Back, delivering relief to Louisiana. He also contributed to “We Are the World 2,” benefiting Haitian relief efforts.
ABOUT KESHA
An international powerhouse, Kesha has sold over 4 million units worldwide and has played nearly 300 live shows in support of her albums Animal, Cannibal and Warrior. She took home the MTV EMA for Best New Act in November 2010, and was nominated for two American Music Awards, four MTV VMA Awards and six Billboard Awards that same year. Kesha’s debut album, Animal, has been certified Gold, Platinum or multi-Platinum in 16 markets (including Platinum in the U.S. and Double Platinum in Australia & Canada), and was the biggest selling debut album from an international female in 2010 in the UK. That same year, Kesha was declared Billboard’s Hot 100 Artist and her smash debut single, “TiK ToK,” was named Billboard’s #1 Hot 100 Song, was the most played song of that year, and was the biggest-selling digital track in the world. Kesha has had eight consecutive Top 10 hits including four #1 singles (“TiK ToK”, “Your Love Is My Drug”, “We R Who We R” and most recently “Timber”). “Timber,” a collaboration with Pitbull, peaked at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles charts, Top 40 charts, UK charts, European singles charts, and Spotify, was nominated for a Billboard Music Award for Top Rap Song, an MTV Video Music Award for Best Collaboration, and won the 2014 iHeartRadio Music Award for Best Collaboration. “Timber” has sold over 2.5 million copies in the US and over 3.7 million copies internationally reaching #1 on iTunes in over 66 countries.
ABOUT GEORGIA MAY JAGGER
The beautiful and talented daughter of Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall, this international supermodel has graced fashion magazine covers around the globe and has modeled for such prestigious brands as Cavalli, Chanel, mulberry, miu miu and Versace. In addition Ms. Jagger is the face of Coty’s global cosmetics brand Rimmel. As Coty’s Global Ambassador in the fight against blood cancer, Georgia May Jagger is using her star power to register donors and build awareness for the cause.
