THE CHAMPIONS OF EDUCATION BENEFIT BASH

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TIMES SQUARE GOSSIP
IN
THE
HAMPTONS
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Kathryn Winnick

Brandon Short With Samantha Fennell, MacDella Cooper And Former America's Next Top Model Judge Nole Marin

The Real Housewives Of New York
Ramona Singer With Countess Luann De Lesseps And Alex McCord

The MacDella Cooper Foundation hosted "Champions of Education Benefit", a quintessentially Hamptons outing including an afternoon in the VIP tent at the Mercedes Benz Challenge in Bridgehampton followed by cocktails and an elegant dinner at Four Seasons Caterer Southampton. The evening raised funds for the construction of a new school for orphans of the terrible civil wars that plagued Liberia until 2006. MacDella Cooper, a native of Liberia was lucky enough to have won a scholarship to study in the United States but watching the terrible devastation that swept her homeland, she founded the foundation with the mission of empowering Liberian youth, especially orphaned and abandoned children, by providing education and the basic necessities of food, clothing and shelter. It is her dream to build the MCF Academy, a tuition-free school in one of the neediest communities in Monrovia, Liberia. For this very special evening Four Seasons' Executive Chef Jeremy Palmer created a tropical themed dinner at the request of the event organizers. Guests feasted on a seafood paella filled with cockles, mussels and clams topped with edible orchids and served in tiny Chinese takeout containers ; Tuna Ka-bobs marinated in sake with yellow orange and watermelon; fillet Mignon skewers wired peppers and Crimini mushrooms in a rosemary demi-glace accompanied by sunburst squash, shiitake mushrooms, papaya grilled in a balsamic vinaigrette; fresh mozzarella with yellow and red grape tomatoes served on a banana leaf and a colorful orzo salad with pink and gold papaya, mango, kiwi and red onion in a ginger and mint vinaigrette! Among the many fashionable guests were NFL star Brandon Short, Noel Marin, former America's Top Model Judge, actress Kathryn Winnick and three of the Real Housewives of New York - Countess LuAnn de Lesseps, Ramona Singer and Alex McCord with husband Simon Van Kempen. Also on hand were designers Alice Heusser and Olivia Kennaway. For more information on this important project visit macdellacooper.org.

Photos By: Marc Hall Photography