Elyse Walker’s The Pink Party was a monumental success last Saturday. Hosted by Palisadian Jennifer Garner and Rachel Zoe, the 10th and final Pink Party raised more than $1.8 million for WCP, bringing The Pink Party’s 10-year total to more than $11.5 million.
“I have always loved Elyse’s store, since I first moved to the Palisades. I have to be one of the top customers there. That’s how I got this job [as event host] four times,” Garner told the Post, laughing. “When I got my first magazine cover, we had a party to celebrate and I wanted to have it at Elyse’s store and support the Women’s Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai. Elyse and Dr. Karlan met and little did they know, this was going to come from it, and I’ve been lucky enough to be part of it.”
The Pink Party has had a remarkable, decade-long run as a combination of philanthropy and fashion drawing Hollywood elite, including former Palisadians Maria Shriver, daughter Katherine Schwarzenegger and actress Frances Fisher, Giuliana and Bill Rancic, Molly Sims and Scott Stuber, Shay Mitchell, Marcia Cross, AJ Cook, Reid Scott, Brenda Song, Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin.
Dr. Beth Karlan, director of WCP and founder Walker began the evening with a heartfelt speech recalling their decade-long friendship and the impact their partnership has made in the fight against women’s cancers.
“It’s bittersweet, but I am so proud of what we have done and excited about the future,” Walker told the Post. “I don’t know what it will look like, but I will continue to stay involved and help generate awareness. Tonight, I’m feeling very relaxed and enjoying the fun before it ends.”
Karlan and VP of Development Ken Massey announced that a tissue culture lab would be named in Walker’s honor in light of the final Pink Party.
“I really don’t think this is an end as it is celebrating a new beginning,” Walker said. “I’d like to help others create their own events. It’s time for a change because science is truly changing. Now we know that many of the women’s cancers that we are supporting [research for] tonight are linked to the BRCA gene – not all of them, but many of them. If it’s a BRCA-related cancer, the BRCA is not a female gene, it is co-ed so pink is now, 10 years later, a little tiny bit obsolete.”
Hosts Garner and Zoe kept the mood upbeat with comedic antics about Garner’s fashion choices and Zoe’s quirky enthusiasm, marking both their friendship and sincere appreciation for their involvement in The Pink Party over the years.
“And Rachel said, ‘Oh my God. I love Elyse. Elyse is bananas,’” Garner joked about Zoe’s reaction when she introduced her to fellow Palisadian Walker more than a decade ago. “Will you put on an Oscar from Elyse? How does she carry Oscar right there in the Palisades? And Stella too? Oh my God. Cancer is so bad. Let’s host this thing together.”
The live auction featured a one-week stay a luxury villa in San Jose del Cabo, a one-year lease on a 2014 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet from The Auto Gallery and The Perfect 10 Package, which featured items such as a $10,000 shopping spree at FWRD, 10 gold and diamond pave stacking rings from Zoe Chicco, dinner at Giorgi Baldi for 10 people and more.
After the live auction, models walked the 50-foot runway framed with two mixed-media paintings by RETNA.
“Despite being the last year of The Pink Party, this is a happy celebration,” Karlan said. “For 10 years, this program has brought awareness to so many and had such an impact. I’m proud to see that people still have a fire in their bellies to continue this effort even after The Pink Party. We are a village – a community – fighting together and we are stronger for it.”
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
