The James Marshall OCD Foundation held its third annual dinner Wednesday night at Manhattan’s Union League Club and raised $250,000, equalling the contributions from the last two years combined. But it wasn’t just another night on the fund-raising circuit.
A sense of family infused the program, which was led by veteran cosmetics executive Linda Marshall, president of Elysee Scientific Cosmetics, whose son James died of complications arising from his affliction with obsessive-compulsive disorder. She is secretary of the foundation, and her son’s widow, Jennifer Marshall, is president. Dionne Warwick, who acted as mistress of ceremonies, has had a close relationship with the Marshall family since 1985, when she and Linda created the singer’s signature fragrance and James worked on it as a chemist. The high point of the evening came with a medley of songs sung by Ace Young, one of last year’s “American Idol” finalists. His mother, Kay Young, is an aesthetician and longtime friend of Linda’s.
Dan Brestle, the chief operating officer of the Estée Lauder Cos., who was the top honoree, gave the family credit. “Linda and her family are the real stars,” he said. “They came out of Verona, Wis., and broke into the most competitive fund-raising town in the world.”
Brestle was given a heartfelt introduction by Michael Gould, chairman and chief executive officer of Bloomingdale’s, who described the honoree as a person who is genuine and personable to the point of inspiring the best in others. “People say they would walk through walls for him,” he said. “I don’t know about walls, but certainly go the extra mile.”
The other honoree was physician Gerald Nestadt, director of the Johns Hopkins OCD Clinic, which was the recipient of this year’s grant.
Linda Marshall opened the program by recalling a conversation she had with her son before he died on March 28, 2002. “He said to me, ‘Mom, I really want to make a difference.'” She then looked out over the packed ballroom and thanked the audience for helping to do just that.