Music and medicine came together last week at the T.J. Martell Foundation’s sold out Spirit of Excellence Dinner held at the Sunset Luxe in Los Angeles in effort to raise funds for cancer research.
The non-profit organization honored Dr. Alan Wayne, Director of the Children’s Center For Cancer and Blood Diseases, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Erika Ender, composer, singer, actress, philanthropist and Latin Grammy 2017 “Song of the Year’ winner for “Despacito”, Jack Sussman, Executive Vice President, Specials, Music and Live Events, CBS Entertainment and Steven Vincent, Vice President of Music & Soundtracks for Disney Channel Worldwide.
The intimate dinner was hosted by comedian Bill Bellamy with a special performance by honoree singer/songwriter Erika Ender who had the audience dancing on their feet as she sang an acoustic version of her mega hit “Despacito”.
Before the evening drew to a close, Grammy award-winning artist Meghan Trainor made a guest appearance performing some of her hits including “All About That Bass” and “Like I’m Gonna Lose You”.
The evening event was co-chaired by Ron Broitman, Executive Vice President and Head of Synchronization, Warner/Chappell & Warner Music Group and David Kovach, Senior Vice President, Global Entertainment, CITI.
Additional memorable and colorful moments throughout the event included:
LL COOL J presents his friend and colleague, CBS Entertainment’s Executive VP, Specials, Music & Live Events Jack Sussman with his award for his work in the entertainment industry.
“When I first arrived at CBS Jack was one of the first senior executives I met and Jack came up to me and said, ‘Are you ready to go to work?’.. and I trusted him. Before I knew it, I did ten different GRAMMY specials, then I ended up hosting the GRAMMYS five years in a row and that was thanks to Jack and the whole team. All of the momentum I am experiencing in my career right now, that all stems from having good people like you in my life… and I appreciate you and I thank you. This foundation is wonderful. My wife is a cancer survivor – it’s amazing to see people giving back, people who care.” – LL COOL J as he presented Jack Sussman with his Spirit of Excellence Award.
“This past week the Trump administration cut $266mil from the National Cancer Institute and other similar programs funded through the Department of Health and Human Services in order to pay for the detainment of immigrant children. What is happening? How does this possibly make sense? We cannot rely on our government in today’s uncertain times. They have proven to be irresponsible and unreliable. We have to help ourselves and that is what we are all doing here tonight.”- Jack Sussman
“I think doing good is our duty and that we are here to make a difference in our lives and in someone else’s lives. Thank you so much for this great honor.” – Erika Ender
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