On Thursday night, October 15, supporters filled 583 Park Avenue in New York for Action Against Hunger’s 2026 gala, a black tie optional evening built around a simple claim: action changes everything. By the end of the night the room had passed the organization’s $1.8 million fundraising goal, money that goes to work in more than 55 countries, where the organization’s 8,500 staff helped 26.5 million people last year.
Kevin Nealon, the former Saturday Night Live cast member, emceed. The evening honored Asmaa Alqaisi, the organization’s country director in Iraq, who began her career as a mechatronics engineer before a decade in humanitarian work, and Chris and Patrice Sobecki, philanthropists and civic leaders recognized for their giving.
Four lots, $725,000
The night’s engine was the live auction. Auctioneer Harry Santa-Olalla, back for his fourth year, sold four experiences and brought in $725,000, roughly 40 percent of the night’s goal, from just four lots. Lexie Lowell and Wesley Hudson, recent NYU MFA graduates, performed an original song from a musical they are developing, and a jazz trio played the room into the late evening.
The sponsor bench read like a Wall Street roll call: Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, UBS, TD Bank, Paul, Weiss, Simpson Thacher, Patterson Belknap, Brown & Brown, Baker Tilly, Invus, and others.
The numbers the room was given
Dr. Charles Owubah, the organization’s chief executive, opened with news that rarely leads a gala program: 43 million people who went hungry a few years ago now have enough to eat. He also described a study finding that modified doses of therapeutic food could let field teams treat twice as many children with the same supplies, and a trial now running in South Sudan testing whether a specially formulated snack can keep children from becoming malnourished during drought. Last year’s gala money, he said, helped the organization survive a year of aid cuts.
Board Chair Ray Debbane, who has led the board for 24 years, gave the room its arithmetic. The world produces enough food for everyone, he said, yet one in three people cannot afford a healthy diet, and research the organization cites holds that every $1 invested in preventing child malnutrition returns $23 a year.
Thursday’s result suggests the room for this kind of giving is holding. A hunger organization asked for $1.8 million in a year when foreign aid shrank, and a Park Avenue ballroom answered with more.
The Social Register’s event directory tracks the season’s galas, benefits, and society evenings. Plan your next evening there.
