DIFFA -Dining by Design 2012 Pretty tables, great cause

When I did my whirlwind trip down to the Architectural Digest Home Show at the end of March, one of the things I was most excited to see were the beautiful tables for the annual Dining By Design event. This year's Dining by Design launch events were attended by over 45,000 guests and raised $650,000 for the DIFFA Foundation. This year, they honored Alfredo Paredes, Executive Vice President and Chief Retail Officer for Ralph Lauren Corporation, with the inaugural David Rockwell Award, for his years of dedicated service and support as a trustee of the foundation for over 14 years. Mr. Ralph Lauren presented Paredes with the award during the Gala Dinner celebration on Monday, March 26^th. DIFFA, Design Industry Foundation Fighting Aids, is one of the largest funders of HIV/AIDS service and education programs in the United States. Since being founded in 1984, DIFFA has mobilized the immense resources of the design communities to provide over $40 million to hundreds of AIDS service organizations nationwide. For more than 27 years, DIFFA has been one of the country's largest supporters of both direct care for people living with AIDS and preventative education for those at risk.

As one who lost a dear friend to this terrible illness, I always have a soft spot for any organization that provides services for those in need. I wish my friend JC had been able to benefit from this type of support and love.

So, as you can imagine, I was terribly disappointed that I never got to see the beautiful table displays! I had an appointment for a press tour at 3:00 that day, but was late because a 2:00 talk I attended ran long. However, the nice folks at their PR agency sent along some really great images - much better than I would have taken!

Architectural Digest