Nearly 500 Turn Out to Honor Celgene Chairman and Somerset Hills YMCA's CEO

In spite of the economic downturn, nearly 500 guests turned out to support Community Hope's annual gala and pay tribute to Dr. Sol J. Barer, Chairman and CEO of the Celgene Corporation and Robert J. Lomauro, President and CEO of the Somerset Hills YMCA. The Annual Sparkle of Hope Dinner Auction was held on Tuesday evening, October 21, 2008 at the Birchwood and Manor in Whippany, New Jersey.

The charity event raised nearly $460,000, the proceeds of which will help provide such basic essentials as housing, heat, food and daily living assistance to nearly 300 individuals in recovery from mental illness, including homeless veterans residing at Community Hope's Hope for Veterans Program.

David Norton, Johnson & Johnson's Company Group Chair of the Pharmaceuticals Group, recognized his fellow gala chairs for the successful fundraising event and acknowledged more than two dozen agencies and corporations for their many years of support.
Click here for list of Event Sponsors.

Chairing this year's Sparkle of Hope benefit together with Mr. Norton was Fred Hassan, Chairman and CEO of the Schering-Plough Corporation, who founded the event twelve years earlier: Timothy Rothwell, Chairman of sanofi-aventis U.S.; Ludwig Hanston, Head of Pharma, North America and CEO of Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Cavan Redmond, President of Wyeth Consumer Healthcare.