A Green Gala for the Future Aug. 24
Some 20 years ago Gro Harlem Bruntland, the former prime minister of Norway, explained at the United Nations that First World countries had an obligation to help Third World countries. She said, in effect, that when America was new, it too cut down its trees. So Americans cannot blame people on the Indian subcontinent for cutting trees for firewood. Or farmers in Brazil for clearing the Rainforest. Or tribes in Africa for killing endangered animals that stalk their cattle.
They are doing what they do to survive. It is our job, she said then, to give them better tools and resources. To make sure they have other ways of solving their problems. If they burn coal because that is all they have … we need to give show them how to use something else. We need to educate them, incentivize them and provide them with new tools. What she suggested was called, for short, the Bruntland Report.
An invitation to the Footprint of Life Gala
Today there are many organizations that are doing just that. Four of them will be brought together on Thursday, August 24, at the home of Gary and Amy Green, under the umbrella of what they call a Green Vision Foundation.
The event is called the Footprint of Life Gala and Amy told us on Monday that there were a few tickets still available. They start at a reasonable $525.
The Footprint of Life Gala is somewhat beyond the usual Hamptons garden party, or gathering to benefit a local cause. Because it take a global view of our problems. A coal fire in Asia is going to put pollutants into the air everyone breathes. So instead of thinking about rescuing local puppies and kitties, or building a regional hospital, this event asks us to consider the cause of world ecology. Amy Heart Green is herself an ambassador for ACCF. That’s an acronym that is as hard to remember as it is unfamiliar. It stands for the African Community & Conservation Foundation. Other ambassadors include Evander Holyfield, Paula Abdul and Dave Matthews. This is the photo Amy Heart Green uses for her photo as ambassador.
The 21 ambassadors, who include celebrities and social influencers, photographers, musicians, actors, students and researchers, use their connections to reach a large audience about the many aspects of ACCF’s work. That can be saving endangered species. It also means supporting women and girls’ empowerment. Protecting habitats. Providing health care. All of it on the ground in Africa.
Amy Heart Green says in her bio on the site, “As a mother, I understand the importance of this for the next generation. When I look at the climate crisis, worsening statistics, and reports of irreversible damage, I can’t help but think of my daughter and the world I’m leaving behind for her.”
Amy Heart Green uses the “Heart” to distinguish herself from a few other Amy Greens, one of whom is an actress with an active Instagram account. Nonetheless, Bridgehampton’s Amy Green has 100,000 followers, who have no problem finding her. It also is in acknowledgement of her career as a sports reporter for Fox before she met her husband.
She told me she had always loved sports. “My dad took me to games,” she said. “I was a little tomboy. I loved the energy and excitement.”
Lucky for Gary Green that a friend at ESPN suggested they meet. “This was after he bought his first baseball team,” Amy Green says.
After a lot of phone calls, because she lived and worked in LA and he lived and worked in New York, he decided on a first date. “He flew me to New York for the Superbowl.” Good start, Gary!
Since then the couple has settled in New York and Bridgehampton, and bought a home in Aspen, where Amy Green has been profiled for her commitment to the environment.
She spoke at an event at the Chopra Foundation co-sponsored with WeTheFuture on July 27. Rounding the circle, she has made the CEO of the Chopra Foundation, Poonacha Machaiah, a member of the host committee for the Gala.
So back to the Gala. It will be at the Greens’ home in Bridgehampton. The event is specifically “dedicated to the preservation of our planet, with a particular focus on efforts to protect the rainforests, wildlife habitats, and indigenous people across the world, supporting anti-poaching patrols, education and conservation programs that improve both livelihoods and biodiversity and empower indigenous people.”
Amy Green with Deepak Chopra (from Instagram)
The Green Foundation is doing this event with the Zangrillo Family Foundation, which is based in Miami. Bob Zangrillo, the head of the foundation, is a philanthropist and head of Dragon Global. The four charities being honored are ACCF, TUSK, UNICEF and Faith Tribe. Tusk was founded in 1990 by Charlie Mayhew as a British NGO to fight poaching in Africa. It then had William, Duke of Cambridge, now known as Prince William, as its patron.
Entertainment will be the pop-electro-dance phenom out of Berlin, Jan Blomqvist. He will provide the beats. Everyone will dance, or at least nod knowingly and wave their arms. There is a jungle-themed experience waiting, along with cocktails and food stations.
The dress code is very specific: shades of green.
David Yarrow’s photographs will be auctioned at the gala, and they are magnificent. David Yarrow is one of the 21 ACCF ambassadors.
His images are often used by Tusk. Charles Mayhew, from Tusk, is on the host committee for Thursday’s Gala. He was recently made a OBE by King Charles III, father of Prince William. And William, as mentioned, is the patron of Tusk.
Once you are at the very highest level of environmental awareness and international organizations, it’s a small world.
A photograph by David Yarrow (@David Yarrow)
Amy Green is excited about this party. She said, “I want everyone to come.”
— Linda Lee
Linda Lee is a former writer and editor at The New York Times.
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