The second edition of the Starlite Gala took place at Marbella’s Villa Padierna Palace Hotel in Spain on August 6. Co-hosted by Eva Longoria and Antonio Banderas, the event was well attended by both Spanish and international celebrities including Paz Vega, Amaia Salamanca, Jermaine Jackson and Elisabetta Briatore.
A number of prizes such as a trip to Kenya to spend a few days with US President Barack Obama’s family—his grandmother Mama Sarah, uncle Marsat Obama and other aunts, uncles and cousins—were auctioned off. Two plane tickets to Rio de Janeiro to attend the Rock in Rio concerts of Shakira, Lenny Kravitz, Maná, Jay-Z and Coldplay and a special invitation to the Cannes Film Festival were also included in the prize list. Ford, leading sponsor of the Gala, donated the limited S-Max Starlite and Mondeo Starlite editions, chosen by Eva Longoria and Antonio Banderas respectively, to be auctioned off during the Gala event.
The proceeds of this event go to humanitarian efforts and many celebrities were excited to be able to donate their time to this altruistic event. The Gala raised money for humanitarian causes and donated the money to three beneficiary foundations: Niños en Alegría, the Eva Longoria Fund and Lágrimas y Favores.
The Eva Longoria Fund has financed 60 programmes aimed at the social integration of children and adolescents who are challenged with developmental problem. The Niños en Alegría has built the Carlos Alberto Madrazo School in Acapulco and is also involved in the construction of Kinder Tierra y Libertad, a school for more than 100 children in one of the most underprivileged regions of Guerrero. Antonio Banderas’s fund Lágrimas y Favores has put money for aid for social assistance through Caritas, financed programmes that treat patients suffering from terminal cancer through the Fundación Cudeca and created 30 scholarships through the Málaga University.
After a wonderful evening, Antonio Banderas and Eva Longoria announced that the third edition of the Starlite Gala will be held on Saturday, August 4, 2012 and bid farewell to the guests, leaving them to party at the Puro Beach Marbella beach club until 6.30 a.m.—Sabine Ernest
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