Amber Elliott

You’ve got to hand it to the Junior League of Houston. Those women know how to embrace a theme and run with it.At the hand of this year’s chairman, Mary Lee Hackedorn Wilkens, last weekend’s 72nd annual Charity Ball transported guests to a “Secret Garden” on not just one, but two occasions. Friday and Saturday nights’ back-to-back fundraisers raised nearly $850,000 towards the non-profit’s mission to foster a lifetime of service for it’s 5,000-plus members. Between 2019-2020, the League will con…

Here are the athletes, restaurateurs, business owners, philanthropists and more who...

Grand Slam for TEACH co-chair Carol Linn said it best, “Shaq who?“Confused? Here’s some context.Back in 2018, To Educate All Children founder Susan Sarofim giddily announced that NBA All-Star Shaquille O’Neal had agreed to headline the non-profit’s seventh annual sports-centric fundraiser. What’s more, her team also reconfigured the program’s former football-theme, Touchdown for TEACH, especially for the basketball legend.HOUSTON CHRONICLE: TEACH scores final touchdown with record $1.25 million…

In case you’re wondering why parts of Montrose and downtown Houston shone bright green over the past weekend, Big Brothers, Big Sisters has a perfectly good explanation.It’s all part of the organization’s nationwide re-branding campaign. A conscious switch from purple to a hue that feels more “bold, modern and electric.“Hence why the local chapter’s new state-of-the-art facility on Washington radiated neon last Saturday night. And from the building’s lofty third-floor perch, “An Evening for Pote…

What’s in a luncheon?Rabbi Scott Hausman-Weiss started the Foundation for Teen Health’s annual Hope for the Future Luncheon on an altruistic note. His invocation opened with a biblical view on “amassing wealth.”“He who dies with the most wealth is still dead,” Hausman-Weiss told the crowd gathered at the River Oaks Country Club.And what a diverse crowd it was.That’s a credit to co-chairs Sarah Dyke, Diane Gendel, Sallie Morian, Sue Poretto and Anny Whyte for amassing a 260-strong audience that r…

Here are the Astros wives, lawyers, legacies and influencers poised to take over...

As college tuition and expenses continue to rise, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is committed to alleviating some of the financial burden for Texas high school seniors - $27 million to more than 800 students, to be exact.And that’s just this year.The Rodeo’s 2019 commitment will award $14 million in scholarships, $8.4 million to junior show exhibitors, $3.9 million in educational program grants and more than $613,000 toward graduate assistantship programs at various in-state universities.L…

Contrary to popular belief, spring is Houston’s busiest social season. Everyone assumes that the fall party circuit is the most jam-packed; but alas, that distinction falls squarely on the months of April and May.So let’s play a game of catch-up, and re-visit the charitable shindigs you may have missed.The Houston Area Women’s Center hosted its inaugural “Believe” luncheon at the Royal Sonesta Hotel last month. A fitting theme considering that keynote speaker Judge Rosemarie Aquilina, who presid…

Al fresco events in Houston are always a gamble. Especially in April, when neither stifling humidity nor a passing thunderstorm are outside the realm of possibility.Hermann Park Conservancy took the risk and won big-time. Organizers shifted the annual “Evening in the Park” gala dinner from its usual Friday slot to a Thursday and subsequently lucked into the most picturesque sunset of the season.Nearly 500 guests kicked off the shindig with cocktails along the Jones Reflection Pool. Some sipped F…

Even the coldest, most Broadway-averse hearts melted into pools of emotional mush after Theatre Under the Stars’ 50th anniversary gala on Saturday night.Such is the power of “Frozen” star Idina Menzel. Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or don’t have any Disney-obsessed age children), Menzel voiced the 3D-animated film’s Queen Elsa, and sang her way to Grammy and Academy Award-winning gold for the blockbuster’s mega-hit, “Let It Go.“And she’s no one-hit-wonder. Menzel landed a Tony Award no…