Philanthropy With A Heart

It was a packed house of over 150 people on January 16, as noted philanthropist Emilia Fanjul held her highly anticipated annual fundraiser, A Night of Great Expectations, at Café Boulud. The cocktail, dinner and auction raised funds for two charter schools dear to the Fanjul family’s heart in Pahokee: Glades Academy Elementary and Middle School and Everglades Preparatory Academy High School. The schools educate approximately four hundred disadvantaged children, grades K-12, from Belle Glade and South Bay in Western Palm Beach County.

Emilia Fanjul began the evening by welcoming everyone and inviting them to experience the schools firsthand in March. For the Fanjuls, it is all about family, as the visit will be organized by Emilia Fanjul and her daughter, Emilia Fanjul Pfeifler. Three articulate and compelling students, an eighth grader and two seniors, spoke eloquently about their experiences at the schools, and guests were offered the opportunity to chat with administrators, teachers and students.

Tom Quick, Palm Beach’s favorite auctioneer par excellence, helped to raise over $1.7 million, which will contribute to funding a licensed Mental Health Counselor, a Middle School College Tour, a Career and Technology Education Instructional staff and many other critical needs and necessary academic programs.

As always, Emilia Fanjul thanked her husband, Pepe, for his unwavering support of the schools. Pepe generously underwrites the entire Café Boulud evening, assuring that one hundred percent of the funds raised goes directly to the all-important education of these deserving students.