
On May 9th Emmitt and Pat Smith turned the Omni Dallas Hotel into a beautiful star-studded venue filled with the “Who’s Who” of Dallas and Hollywood.
The event began with a VIP red carpet, followed by a celebrity reception and live auction, dinner, and musical performance by Darius Rucker. The evening highlight was the presentation of the inaugural Roger Staubach Award to Cookie and Magic Johnson. The Johnsons spoke about the importance of charity and helping others.
The “Friday Night Party” was not a disappointment! I had the opportunity to walk the red carpet (actually it was blue) and strut my new Gianni Binni Dress that I just bought that day!!!!!
When I found out last minute about the Charity Gala, it was a situation where I had to pay $500 to get a seat at the table or come as media. But thank God for favor!! K104FM DeDe McGuire was one of the lovely host, and once I reached out to her about going, she allowed me to be a guest at her table. McGuire wore a fabulous Black dress and her husband Chris sported a nice suit. She paired me with her show’s producer Gary Saunders and he was an absolute hoot!!!! I also got to meet their Program Director Geo Cook and his mother.
There were so many celebrities at the Gala. I was able to take photos with Former Major League Baseball Player David Justice, Alfonso Ribeiro, aka "Carlton" from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Emmitt Smith, NewsOne TV host Rowland Martin and many others!!
The Pat and Emmitt Smith Charities (PESC) creates experiences and distributes grants to high-quality non-profits providing historically underserved children with arts, education, health and wellness programming. They raised 1 MILLION
Some of the kids from the charity were also on hand, to talk about the difference it has made in their life. I also couldn't believe just how much money they were able to raise! People were bidding thousands at a time, and not stopping. The live auction would continue throughout the night.
It was a great venue, the Omni transformed into a classy wonderful wonderland, with amazing centerpieces and white linen draped chairs and white draped tablecloths.
The food was also amazing. They had a wonderfully presented salad with fruit and teak, shrimp and grits for the main course. Oh and the Butterscotch desert in a martini glass was too cute!
After the VIP reception, Gala dinner, and dancing there was an after party inside the Omni Owners box restaurant in a private section. They even closed off the bathroom for only us! I got to see Rowland Martin and others, what an amazing time~
I just want to say God is soooo good because this event motivates me to look forward to having a similar charity that helps young people and benefits so many- kudos to the Smiths for setting a wonderful example of a power couple and being such great role models!