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24th Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner Raises More Than $6.3 Million for The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis

10/7/2009

NFL Hall of Famer Nick Buoniconti and his son Marc hosted a full house of 1,300 guests and raised $6.3 million at the 24th Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner, held last night at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York. The dinner benefits The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, the fundraising arm of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis at the Miller School. In addition, during the evening an anonymous donor made a surprise pledge of $10 million to fund the human clinical trials initiative at The Miami Project.

This year’s sports legend honorees included Troy Aikman, Clyde Drexler, Mike Piazza, Ivan Lendl, Rusty Wallace, Brett Hull, Dara Torres, Pat Day and Chris Waddell. They were joined by sports broadcaster Bob Costas, who returned as master of ceremonies, and other philanthropic heroes and business leaders committed to supporting paralysis research.

Other honorees included Stewart Rahr, president, CEO, and sole owner of Kinray Inc., who received the 2009 Outstanding Philanthropist Award; Adrienne Arsht, chairman emeritus of TotalBank, who received The Buoniconti Fund Award; Jack Schneider, managing director of Allen & Company and chairman of The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, who received the Barth A. Green Spirit Award; and Maya Angelou, writer, African-American activist and educator, who received The Buoniconti Fund Humanitarian Award.

“It’s always a thrill to be in the presence of such legends and leaders in the sports and business arena,” says Nick Buoniconti, founder of The Buoniconti Fund. “The support that we continue to receive year after year is astounding and validates the work we are doing as significant and meaningful.  I look forward to when we can walk side by side with those who are paralyzed by spinal cord injury.  We all know that this can happen to any one of us, which is why we need to stay focused on finding a cure.”

The Great Sports Legends Dinner honors an all-star roster of athletes who have been recognized for their outstanding athletic achievements and have helped raise millions of dollars for the spinal cord injury research programs at The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis. The dinner has become known for uniting individuals from the sports, business and entertainment industries, and this year’s event was again a sell-out with the capacity crowd enjoying a moving and inspirational program.

Over the course of the past 23 years, the Great Sports Legends Dinner has raised millions of dollars for spinal cord injury research programs at The Miami Project and honored 253 of the world’s greatest athletes and other individuals. They are recognized for their contributions to the world of sports and acknowledged for their commitment to high ethical standards, dedication to their community, worthy causes and achievements as positive role models.