Inside Baby2Baby’s Star-Studded 10 Year Gala Celebration

Glittering may be a word that is overused when it comes to L.A.’s high-wattage party scene, but it’s the only one to describe Baby2Baby’s annual gala in West Hollywood last Saturday evening. Guests including Kate Hudson, Jessica Alba, Behati Prinsloo and Adam Levine, Lydia Hearst, Miranda Kerr, J.J. Abrams, Meena Harris and Alexandra Daddario turned out in larger-than-life red-carpet looks to celebrate the non-profit’s tenth anniversary held at the Pacific Design Center.

The organization, founded by Kelly Sawyer Patricof and Norah Weinstein, certainly had plenty to celebrate. Over the past decade, Baby2Baby has donated over 200 million items and served over a million children in over 150 cities across the country. “In retrospect, the last nine years feel like a dress rehearsal,” said Weinstein. “Of the 200 million items we have distributed over the last ten years, 100 million of those have been given out in the last 18 months. Our business didn’t shut down a single day of the pandemic, and we expanded in every conceivable way.”

This past year Baby2Baby also started producing their own diapers and formula to better meet the demand caused by the pandemic, along with natural disasters including the Texas freeze, California wildfires, and hurricane Ida. “In March of 2020, we had an 860% increase in requests for our most essential items,” says Sawyer. “There were actually no diapers or wipes or formula on the shelf at all, so we got one of the most surprising calls in our history from FEMA asking us for help. It was a real lightbulb moment.”

After being greeted with cocktails from The Spare Room, guests were treated to a food truck-style selection of the city’s buzziest dishes in lieu of a sit-down dinner, curated by James Beard-award winning chef-owners Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo. While crowds lined up for Pearl River Deli’s char sir noodles, Craig’s vegan crab cakes, Felix’s cacio e pepe rigatoni, birria burritos from Burritos La Palma, and seconds of Nobu black cod, Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez held court in front of Jitlada’s curry stand, and Sarah Meyer Michaelson served up potato donuts topped with her own Roe caviar.

Once, and only once the food stands were cleaned out, James Corden, the emcee for the evening, kicked off the program in his signature cheeky style. “Don’t worry, Jeff,” he quipped. “I have personally taken it upon myself to make sure that Leonardo DiCaprio is not here this evening.” This year’s honoree was Vanessa Bryant, wife of the late Kobe Bryant, who attended with her daughters Natalia, Bianka, and Capri. It was an emotional moment as Bryant was presented with the Giving Tree Award by Kerry Washington. “I have to start by saying how much I miss my perfect date tonight,” she said. “My husband Kobe loved attending these galas. With his big smile he would look at me and say, ‘Tonight, I’m your plus one. It’s the one event I’m not obligated to do anything except be your date, help families and enjoy great food.’”

Mindy Kaling and Nicole Richie led the fundraising portion of the evening during which over $8 million was donated—double the amount of the 2019 gala and a milestone which was duly celebrated with a performance by DJ Nice and Ciara that had everyone out of their seats. The evening closed out with an afterparty during which Samantha Ronson supplied the tunes. While Alex Israel and Giovanna Battaglia Englebert danced into the night holding a box of Jon & Vinny’s pizza, other guests grabbed slices of pie from cult diner The Apple Pan for the road. As the party wound down, Sawyer said, “We all love to put on a fancy dress, have a good time, some drinks, and a great throwback performance, but the real reason we’re here is for the children we serve, to make sure that they have the basic essentials that they need and that their families are supported.”