Social Circuit

The Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust held its seventh Annual Benefit June 12 at Lemon Hill Mansion. The event honored Gerry Lenfest with the F. Eugene Dixon Jr. Award and raised $53,000 to support the trust's programs to preserve and promote Fairmount Park's historic buildings and landscapes. Among the 175 guests was mayoral candidate Michael Nutter, who helped launch the trust in 1993 and served on its board until last fall.

Nearly 700 guests attended the American Heart Association's fourth annual Go Red for Women Luncheon on June 8 at the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue, netting $570,000. The luncheon, the organization's second-most successful of 235 nationwide, honored Acme Markets president Judy Spires with the 2007 Woman of Heart Award.

MenzFit, a new nonprofit that provides free professional clothes for low-income men re-entering the workforce, held its first reception at Brooks Brothers in Center City on June 6. Founder Rhonda Willingham, who started MenzFit in Washington in 2001, received a $250,000 start-up grant from the state to bring the program to Philadelphia. MenzFit will officially open its doors at 340 N. 12th St. on Thursday.

The Career Wardrobe held its sixth annual benefit, A Perfect Fit: Fashioning Futures for Women, on June 7 at Top of the Tower at 1717 Arch St. The event, which raised $80,000, featured a fashion show with 12 local TV and radio personalities and 11 Career Wardrobe clients, who wore the Career Wardrobe outfits that helped them land their jobs. The organization provides free business clothing and personal development services each year to about 5,000 low-income women preparing to enter the workforce.

To celebrate reaching $100 million for its capital campaign, the National Museum of American Jewish History held a cocktail soiree on June 13 at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York. The campaign, with a goal of $150 million, is for the museum's new building to be built at Fifth and Market Streets. Spotted in the Big Apple were Sidney and Caroline Kimmel, Ron and Marcia Rubin, George and Lyn Ross, Bruce and Robbi Toll, Betsy and Edward Cohen, Steve and Sandy Cozen, Lynn and Harold Honickman, Lewis Katz, and Bennett LeBow.

Actor Martin Sheen took center stage on June 15 as emcee of the first benefit dinner for two mental health advocacy organizations - the National Alliance on Mental Illness, Pennsylvania (NAMI PA) and Peace of Mind Project of Madison, Wis. (POMP). U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy received the Lawmaker of the Year Award for his leadership in sponsoring the Mental Health Parity bill, currently before Congress. (U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, who could not attend, was also honored.) The bill would require insurance companies to cover treatment for mental illness on par with coverage for other illnesses. The event, held at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, raised $150,000.

The Friends of Rittenhouse Square held its annual Ball on the Square Thursday for more than 350 guests in the park, raising more than $150,000 for projects in the square. The proceeds include a $50,000 state grant announced by Gov. Rendell at the fund-raiser. The tented dinner-dance, An Evening in Paris, was co-chaired by Donna and Jerry Slipakoff and Amanda Burden and Guy Aiman.

"Social Circuit" is taking the summer off. It will return in September. Contact Caroline Stewart at 215-854-5747 or at socialcircuit@phillynews.comEndText