December 2016/January 2017 51 don’t need to have fancy flowers at the event, just a good meal, and the rest I keep very frugal. We have corporate sponsors who help pay. People have to see not just that you’re committed—which we are—but also where we are putting the money.” They know Hoag insists that 100 percent of the money from her funding initiative goes to the Alzheimer’s Association to advance research. MOUNTING SUCCESS Initially, Hoag thought she might raise $200,000, but she vastly underestimated her own prowess. “Part the Cloud” garnered an astounding $2 million, all of which went to regional research teams at Stanford University, University of California, San Francisco, the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, the Palo Alto Institute for Research & Education and University of California, Davis. The enthusiastic response informed Hoag that she’d touched upon a medical condition with widespread ramifications among family and friends. Now, it was time to put her marketing and event coordination savvy to good use. She knew that although “Part the Cloud” had had a successful launch, it would be tactical a mistake to repeat the gala every year. She’d run the risk of donor fatigue. But shortly after “Part the Cloud’s” inaugural, while Hoag was attending a Zenith Social event, she heard author Mark K. Shriver talking about his book “A Good Man: My Father, Sargent Shriver,” which recounts the story of his family’s struggle to care for the once powerful family patriarch as a debilitated, confused Alzheimer’s patient. The contrast was particularly striking to witness in the same strong and vibrant man who had married John Kennedy’s younger sister Eunice and once ran for vice president on the George McGovern ticket. “It’s a mind-blowing disease— not just for the people who get it, but for everyone around them,” Mark’s sister, Maria Shriver, would also remark, adding, “That’s why I’m so passionate about defeating it.” Echoing that passion, Hoag asked Mark if he would ever come to California and share his story with a smaller, more intimate group. He agreed, and his participation launched “Part the Cloud’s” biennial luncheon, which runs in alternating years from the gala. A more low-key event, the luncheon is an opportunity to hear personal Alzheimer’s stories, and is a chance for donors to get updates on details of the research their dollars are supporting. In 2015, the featured speaker, Dr. Lisa Genova, talked about “Still Alice” her novel about the struggle of a Harvard professor with Alzheimer’s subsequently made into a movie of the same name starring Julianne Moore, who won an Oscar for her performance. The 2014 “Part the Cloud” gala, which was hosted by actresses Brooke Shields and Virginia Madsen and featured a performance by local rocker Chris Isaak, blew away expectations by bringing in $4 million, up until then the largest single-day fundraiser in the Alzheimer’s Association’s 36-year history. Building on the enormous success of the gala, the organization expanded its scope to fund seven research teams from Mount Sinai Hospital in New York to University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, Canada, to Nashville’s Vanderbilt University, all conducting clinical trials. JOE AND JENNIFER MONTANA CHRIS ISAAK PERFORMS AT THE 2014 PART THE CLOUD GALA DREW ALTIZER (3) THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THO SE WITH ALZHEIMER’ S IS PROJECTED TO TRIPLE O VER THE NE XT 3 0 YEARS, IT REMAINS A DISEA SE SHROUDED BY A KIND OF C ODE OF SILENCE.
South Bay Accent - DecJan 2016
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