Saturday, November 15th, more than 350 people gathered for a beautiful evening at Trump National Doral to support the incredible efforts of one man’s triumphant success in working to save the precious lives of newborns from the ultimate child abuse: newborn abandonment. Nick Silverio, the CEO and Founder of A Safe Haven for Newborns, along with the help from volunteers, has saved more than 200 babies from abandonment. Through the organizations’ educational outreach and public awareness campaigns, along with the help of the 24/7 multilingual hotline, this amazing man has created a grassroots tidal wave of support in order to be able to fund the organization’s efforts to assist in excess of 5,000 young pregnant women in 67 Florida counties. Helping young women during a crucial period in their lives and, sometimes, helping them with a life and death decision takes an incredible toll trying to maintain the funding needed for this massive undertaking. A Safe Haven for Newborns has signage located at all 24/7 manned fire stations and hospitals allowing pregnant women to leave their newborn in a “Safe Haven”, with no questions asked, free from prosecution, completely anonymous, in the hands of trained personnel. While no one can fully understand why a person would endanger a vulnerable child, two common denominators present themselves, isolation and denial. The mothers of these infants are usually young and overwhelmed, who panic and feel they have no support.
For this reason, the organization has earned the support of countless physicians, emergency personnel, professionals, CEO’s, community leaders, corporate representatives, mothers, fathers, families, TV personalities and readers of Community Newspapers. They were all there on Saturday evening as Local 10 Newscast Reporter, Kristi Kreuger acted as M/C of the event; Founder Nick Silverio thanked his many supporters; Dr. Bill Bruno, Jr. received the Monarch Award for his many years of service contributing to the support of A Safe Haven’s mission, and they were standing when Senator Rene Garcia, Event Ambassador led the charge for donations and contributions from the attendees. The Give Cards were flying as the volunteers collected donations and other volunteers sold “please adopt me” stuffed toy bears. All of this effort – because everyone present knew it was just a matter of time before a new baby would need to be “saved” from abandonment and placed in a loving home with their new adoptive parents.
This magical evening included a magnificent performance from the Conchita Espinosa Conservatory of the Arts performers. The evening also featured singing sensation, Jenny Love, and her band who kept everyone on the dance floor. Bringing all this together was an incredible event planner, Que Belle Event Productions & Marketing, led by Aly Ramos. Cardin Events and Production Floral Design’s centerpieces were elegant. Cristina Sullivan Photography snapped photos of the event while A Safe Haven for Newborns’ Board of Directors welcomed all to the event (Rene Garcia, State Senator; Henry Delgado, Smith and Wollensky; Efrain Sora, Sora Global; Charly Smith, Tradewinds; and Dr. Francisco Medina, Baptist Health Homestead.)
None of this would be possible without the strong support of the primary sponsors: Presenting Sponsor, BACARDI; Premier Sponsors, Memorial Healthcare Systems, Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, Miami Heat, Sun Capital Partners; Royal Sponsors, Baptist Health of South Florida, Miami Children’s Hospital, Target, Tradewinds, Pedi-Access Group, DeSimone, and Nurse Lulu; Grand Sponsors, Accord Productions, Armor, Carmen Rebozo Foundation, Coastal Construction, Health Foundation of South Florida, Shannon Family Foundation and Sora Global. Special thanks to companies sponsoring tables, parking, photo booth and entertainment: Steve Rosenberg, Peter Feaman, PA, Broward Health, Blanche Roddick, Brickman Financial Services, Christ the King Catholic Church, Community Newspapers, Florida Fire Chiefs’ Association, IBS, Jet Stream Federal Credit Union, MCCI, Miller Construction, Palm Beach State College, Pinnacle Financial Strategies, Senator Rene Garcia, The Arnie Perez Family and West Boca Medical Center. Special gratitude to the many companies contributing items to the silent auction some of which included: The Miami Dolphins, The Miami Heat, Trump National Doral, World Golf Championships Cadillac Championship, Artists Roxy (Sora) and Artist Humberto Benitez, Bacardi, El Dorado, Publix, Mary Kay, Dr. Ana Duarte, Perry Ellis International, Hellmann’s Logistical, Bacardi, Seminole Hard Rock and Redline Luxury Auto Rental.
Surpassing the goal, more than $100,000 was donated for the benefit of A SAFE HAVEN FOR NEWBORNS to continue this life saving mission.
