The Cable Center, a facility built to showcase one of the world’s newest technologies, will be the setting Saturday night for a fundraiser that gets underway with a centuries-old tradition – the Chinese New Year Lion Dance.
Blending the old with the cutting edge is appropriate since the occasion will raise money for the Nathan Yip Foundation, a charitable organization that Jimmy and Linda Yip began after the death of their only child in an automobile accident. Nathan Yip had been a popular leader at Cherry Creek High School, active in causes that included Future Givers, whose members stage a ball every year to raise money for the Denver-based Project PAVE.
Nathan also had an interest in helping children from impoverished nations improve their lives through education, and the foundation that his parents started is dedicated to building schools and starting programs that will give youngsters in China, Mexico and Africa a better chance of surviving in a competitive world.
Saturday’s benefit is chaired by Gerry Miale and David Thomson, and begins at 6 p.m. Tickets are $120 and include dinner and entertainment. There will be silent and live auctions.
For the past two years, the event has been held at Johnny Hsu’s Palace Chinese Restaurant, but was moved this year to accommodate an ever-growing number of patrons. Hsu, who also owns the Imperial Chinese Seafood Restaurant, will do the catering.
Chinese soprano Shu Ying Li, who made her New York City Opera debut last September in the title role of “Madama Butterfly,” will be the featured performer, and will be joined by several local and regional musicians.
Final plans for the benefit were made at a meeting in the 14th-floor conference room at the Greenwood Village headquarters of Peliton, one of two businesses the Yips run. The other is Omnivest, the umbrella agency for a group of companies that include Keller Williams Realty and Omnivest International. Gerry Miale is a vice president at Peliton, working in the 401k plan department and her co-
chair, Thomson, has served as a consultant to Omnivest and asked the Yips to be the godparents of his son, Zachary. Thomson has been listed in the Denver Business Journal’s “Who’s Who in Real Estate” for several years and is involved with the Colorado Symphony, the Winter Park Trust, Colorado Business Committee for the Arts, the University of Denver and the Board of Realtors.
Also at the meeting, committee member Karen Valliant, a Denver marketing professional, unveiled the foundation’s new website, nathanyipfoundation.com. It was developed pro bono by Liquid Inc., a design firm headed by Eric Winslow. Okie Arnot, Karen Kirk and Krista Agramonte announced the silent and live auctions will include a dinner for eight donated by John and Anna Sie and prepared at the Sie home by French chef Patrice Boudon, and a 14-day trip to China.
Society editor Joanne Davidson can be reached at 303-809-1314 or jmdpost@aol.com.
