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Gladys Knight to sing for two Denver-based causes

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Gail and are chairing the 25th annual .

Seven-time Grammy winner — otherwise known as the Empress of Soul — will be in two cities over the next several weeks to help raise money for two -based nonprofits.

On Saturday she will be at the Marriott City Center to headline the 25th Carousel Ball; on Nov. 16, she’ll be singing “Midnight Train to Georgia” and other hits at the inaugural DC Gala, a star-studded dinner that the Global Down Syndrome Foundation is having in the nation’s capital.

The Carousel Ball is a benefit for the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes and is being chaired by Gail and George Johnson. The DC Gala is part of the GDSF’s ever-expanding network of fundraisers, the first of which was the Be Beautiful Be Yourself Jet Set Fashion Show, the 2011 edition of which is Oct. 15 at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center. Proceeds from GDSF events go to the Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome, headquartered on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora.

Barbara Davis and her late husband, Marvin, held the first Carousel Ball in Denver in 1977, shortly after their youngest daughter, Dana, was diagnosed with diabetes. When the Davises moved to Los Angeles in the late 1980s, they re-named the event the Carousel of Hope Ball and staged it every other year at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The Denver version was re-established several years ago as the High Hopes Carousel Ball; the name has since been restored to the original Carousel Ball.

In addition to Knight’s performance, the ball will also feature tributes to Dr. Georgeanna Klingensmith, director of clinics for 25 years at the Barbara Davis Center, and community leaders Charlie and McNeil. Judy McNeil is president of The Guild of the Children’s Diabetes Foundation at Denver and is a past chair of its annual fashion show, the Brass Ring Luncheon. Barbara Davis is the gala’s honorary chair.

Proceeds from the Carousel Ball go to clinical care and research for the nearly 6,000 children and adults who are patients at the Barbara Davis Center.

“Many of us recall the star-studded Carousel Balls in Denver in the 70s and 80s,” says. “This year the stars will be the members of our community; all of the people who turn out to support children with diabetes. These children need all of the help we can give.”

Ticket inquiries can be directed to Susie Hummell, 303-863-1200.

The GDSF’s DC Gala, at the JW Marriott Hotel in Washington, honors U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions and U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin; Alex Sessions, a model and self-advocate, is the event ambassador.

Event chairs are Norm Brownstein, Jeffrey Forbes, Mark Irion, Beth Viola and Michael McAdams, , Faith Perlmutter Diamond, Anna and John Sie, and Michelle and Tom Whitten. There are 17 honorary chairs, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall; Gov. John Hickenlooper; Denver Mayor Michael Hancock; and members of the Colorado Congressional delegation.

Quincy Jones, Jamie Foxx, Chauncey Billups, Brian Griese, Ed McCaffrey, John Lynch, David Duval, Ted McGinley and Jeff Probst are among the athletes and entertainment figures serving on the honorary committee.

For details, visit the GDSF website, globaldownsyndrome.org

: , jdavidson@denverpost.com or twitter/GetItWrite


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