Aqua
The AQUA Party has been fundraising in the Fire Island Pines for the past 8 years in collaboration with SPRAY. With over 2000 attendees at these events, we have been able to provide excellent brand recognition for our sponsors and donors.
Our mission is to help children that are in need of basic necessities such as clean drinking water and shelter. With the help of these two amazing non-profits, we have been able to help children locally and internationally.
In working with The Water Project, we have been able to provide clean water wells, latrines and hand washing stations to schools in Kenya. These projects have enabled children to attend school and avoid illness.
Historically, it is the girls that must walk long distances to retrieve water, often times putting their lives at risk. By providing clean water in schools, we hope to specifically award girls an equal opportunity to education.
Through the support of the Ali Forney Center, we are helping our local homeless LGBTQ youth by providing safe housing, food, medical care and counseling. Last year our funds contributed to the construction and establishment of the Bea Arthur Residence, which houses 18 children!
Tragically, forty percent of the homeless youth are from the LGBTQ community. We all need to do more to stop this crisis.
AQUA GALA 2019
Gabriel Manzon & Tony D’Angelo, founders of the Aqua Party Benefits.
Dear Aqua Supporter,
We invite you to join us at our 2nd Annual AQUA Gala, hosted by Tony D’Angelo & Gabriel Manzon.
This year’s event promises to be an extraordinary and inspiring event. We are hosting our NYC gala at the beautiful Landmark on The Park located on the upper west side of Manhattan. We hope you will join us in supporting our two beneficiaries, The Water Project and The Ali Forney Center.
This year’s gala will celebrate and honor leaders that are making a difference in the LGBTQ community and in the area of women’s rights. In honor of the 50th anniversary of Stonewall and NYC World Pride, we would like to celebrate our community and allies. We are stronger together. Our leaders and allies will help pave the way for a better future. We must move forward to reduce homelessness, provide clean water and provide equal opportunities & education to all. We hope to inspire our guests by honoring these leaders and demonstrating their tireless work. We hope you will join our cause by attending our event.
There will be a VIP reception with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction followed by a 3-course dinner & performance.
We invite you as an individual or corporation to choose one of the following sponsorships available.
Sponsorship details and amenities are listed below. All donations are tax deductible under section 501(c)3.
Please contact Gabriel Manzon at (646) 373-4832 or gabemanzon@me.com for more information.
HOST
Lea DeLaria - Tina Turnbow Photo Credit
Lea DeLaria seems to have achieved overnight stardom with her three time, SAG Award winning, stand-out role as ‘Carrie ‘Big Boo’ Black’ in the Netflix hit series “Orange is the New Black.” However, DeLaria’s multi- faceted career as a comedian, actress and jazz musician, has in fact, spanned decades. Lea holds the distinction of being the first openly gay comic on television in America, which led to countless Television and Film roles. Selected TV credits: “The Code,” “Shameless,” “Broad City,” “Baroness Von Sketch,” “The Jim Gaffigan Show,” “Awkward,” “Clarence,” “Californication,” “The Oblongs,” “One Life to Live,” “Law and Order: SVU,” “Will and Grace,” “Friends” & “Matlock.”
HONOREES
Catherine Chepkemoi
Catherine has risen through ranks from being an attache to now an Executive director. “I love working with TWP because they have helped me unlock my potential as a woman leader. As an Executive, my job is mainly overseeing the day to day running of the organization in terms of administration, programs and strategic planning of the organization. My biggest desire for our organization is to reach each and every community member in the entire country with clean safe drinking water”
Edwin P. Schulhafer
Edwin P. Schulhafer, MD graduated from Rutgers University in 1974, taught high school algebra and American history for one year. After two years of Italian medical school he was accepted to New Jersey Medical School where he graduated in 1983. He is the owner of an Allergy, Asthma & Immunology private practice in Somerset and Hunterdon counties in NJ since 1988.
He is best known for his leadership and philanthropic work in the Fire Island Pines. He joined the Fire Island Pines Property Owners Board of Directors in 1992 and has been Vice President for the last 8 years. He is also the Vice President of the Pines Charitable Foundation, which distributes funds to organizations such as the Stonewall Foundation and SAGE (Senior Action in Gay Environment). He has been the director of the Pines Care Center, a free medical operation, since 1993 serving as President for ten years. He hosts yearly fundraiser for multiple LGBTQ organizations, treasurer for the LGBTQ Focus Foundation & part of the advisory committee for Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s presidential campaign.
Crayton Robey, a native of Houston, Texas, and a graduate of Howard University, Crayton Robey made his directorial debut with the award-winning documentary, When Ocean Meets Sky, a historical chronicle of the iconic gay beach resort, Fire Island Pines. The film premiered at the 2004 South by Southwest Film Festival and won the Best Documentary Award at the 2004 Dallas OUT TAKES, and later broadcast on the MTV Logo Network.
In 2009, Crayton debuted Making the Boys at the Tribeca Film Festival. This documentary features the many people involved with the original “Boys in the Band” play and film. “The Boys in the Band was a blunt and incisive commentary about the lives of gay men. The diverse emotional profiles of the plays' characters emphasized the breadth of attitudes gay men had towards each other and about themselves, equal parts pride and self-loathing. "From a political point of view", Robey says, "some people would like to rewrite that history. You need to know who the pioneers are that came before you. We have eye-witnesses who were there. We need to know our history because it gives us much more power in terms of where we are today and we see just how far we've come and just how far we haven't come".
Damon Cardasis
Damon Cardasis is an award winning writer, director, and producer. He is a GLAAD AWARD Nominee, a two-time WRITER’S GUILD AWARD nominee and the producing partner of writer/ director Rebecca Miller. Together they run their production company Round Films.
Cardasis’ acclaimed first feature script, SATURDAY CHURCH was released by Samuel Goldwyn Films and was chosen as a New York Times Critics Pick. It has won 17 awards from festival’s around the world, was nominated for a GLAAD Award for “Outstanding Film - Limited Release” and was the runner up for the “Audience Award” at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, where it played in competition. He wrote, directed, produced and co-wrote the lyrics for it.
Cardasis produced the film MAGGIE’S PLAN (starring GRETA GERWIG, ETHAN HAWKE, JULIANNE MOORE, BILL HADER, MAYA RUDOLPH and TRAVIS FIMMEL), released by Sony Pictures Classics in May 2016, and the HBO documentary film ARTHUR MILLER: WRITER.
INDYA MOORE ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
Indya Moore is an actor, writer, director, model, social activist and founder of Beetlefruit Media, Inc., a production company focused on storytelling in various mediums. Born and raised in the Bronx, she has appeared in Vogue and OUT, as well as assignments for GQ, Gucci and Christian Dior. Over the last year, Indya has performed alongside Katy Perry and Migos for Saturday Night Live and acted in the feature film Saturday Church distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films. Her work has graced many international music videos and video installations. She is the lead actor and executive producer of the anthology tv series Magic Hour. Indya currently plays a leading role as “Angel” in Ryan Murphy’s FX tv series POSE.
Previous sponsors
VIP - Major Sponsor
SILVER SPONSORS
AUCTION SPONSORS
Adam Elberg, Alvaro Artz, Barba Men’s Grooming Spa, Bottno Restaurant, City Cakes, D’Mai Urban Spa, Fox News, Good Day New York, Jean George Restaurant.
BOARD SPONSOR
Gabriel Manzon, Tony D’Angelo, Paul Philps , Anthony Inniss, Bill Candelario, Scott Gabrielle, Rod Plante, Carlos Ortiz, Darcy Becker.
Project Birthday is intended to give the homeless LGBTQ youth we serve the chance to celebrate their birthday. Many of the young people who use AFC's services have no contact with their families and no means to celebrate their birthdays.
Latest Fundraising projects
The Aqua Party has been raising money to help The Water Project since 2010 helping over 3000 people in communities in Kenya get access to safe, clean, reliable water.
In 2013, we added The Ali Forney Center as a beneficiary. The Ali Forney Center is a 24 hr. LGBTQ homeless shelter which provides safe housing, meals and health screenings for individuals in need.
Forty percent of the homeless youth are from the LGBTQ community. This a statistic we desperately need to change.
Eshilibo Primary School
The first year Eshilibo Primary School did its first national exam was the same year they received their WaSH projects, in 2018. After last year, the students and staff said they were determined to perform better this year because they now have water within the school compound. This means that the pupils have enough time to concentrate on schoolwork instead of going out in search of water.
Other changes over the last year include sanitation standards, which have improved at Eshilibo Primary. As we entered the school compound on a recent visit, we were able to spot a few children washing their hands after visiting the toilet using the handwashing stations we installed last year.
On this visit we connected with the Health and Sanitation Teacher Mr. Isaac Anunda. We were able to share a lot on improvements and ongoing challenges of sanitation within the school, and brainstormed next steps to continue helping this school community grow and improve their hygiene and sanitation. Mr. Anunda came up with the idea of calling a parents meeting at the school to share the same sanitation information the students received at their school training last year. This, he hopes, will help spread good health practices homeward, including improvising handwashing facilities such as constructing tippy taps or leaky tins.
“Since the WaSH facilities were put up in the school the population of the school has increased from 250 to 280, and we expect the enrollment to increase because parents are sure [of the] water their children are drinking at school,” said Mr. Anunda. He also expressed his sincere thanks to our team for helping his school, and his hopes that we might be able to continue helping other schools in the area that were in the same position Eshilibo was once in.
Students shared with us the other changes they have felt since the implementation of their WaSH projects last year.
“Our performance has really improved because we have water in the school compound and we are no longer asked to get out of class to go and look for water,” said 13-year-old Chrisantus Enjusi. “Lunch, on the other hand, is prepared on time for both teachers and pupils…and we are sure the food is well prepared because the water is treated thus [it is] clean and safe for human consumption.”
MURONI PRIMARY SCHOOL - Project completed in January 2022
We recently got pictures and updates from the Water Project we co-sponsored this past year (2021). We contributed funds along with H20 for Life and 17 other individual donors.
Bea Arthur Residence
The Cooper Square Committee, a housing preservation organization, and the Ali Forney Center, an organization that serves homeless LGBT youth, have partnered to acquire and renovate 222 East 13th Street in order to provide quality, safe, transitional housing for homeless LGBT teenagers and young adults, ages 18 – 24. The building is known as the Bea Arthur Residence.
Emukhalari primary school, kenya.
Time collecting water has been saved ever since the rainwater tank was constructed. Now students can concentrate more on their studies rather than on finding enough water.
Bukhaywa Secondary School, kenya.
The environment of Bukhaywa Secondary School is looking good. You can tell life has really improved because now they have enough clean and sufficient drinking water at school.