Mira Riad, sister of Fortuny co-owners Mickey and Maury Riad, is the Director of The Littlest Lamb, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a safe, loving and supportive home for Egyptian children who have lost one or both parents. The Riad family comes from Egypt and had a first-hand look at the situation in Cairo and brevity of the needs of orphans there.
We talked with both Mira to hear about their recent Gala and learn more about the cause.
GDG: Can you give us a brief history of The Littlest Lamb?
Mira: Over the past several years, every visit to the orphanages in Egypt left me depressed, heartbroken and angered about the situation these poor children are finding themselves in and the way they are forced to live. As if being parentless was not enough, these children live in homes broken both structurally and emotionally. On every level, from the most basic understanding of humanity to the deepest fibers of our souls, it became impossible for us to accept this as the way things had to be and we refused to turn our backs on the situation. These thoughts finally led to the formation of The Littlest Lamb. Our goal is to build an orphanage that will serve not only as a home providing for children in need, but as a model to other orphanages in Cairo.
GDG: Have the fundraising efforts been successful?
Mira: Recently, we had our 4th annual gala and silent auction at Battery Gardens in Manhattan. The evening turned out better than we expected; people had fun, we got our mission across, and we raised a lot of money, about $200,000! We auctioned two tickets to the U2 show, including back stage passes in Miami, which got $8,000. The next highest was the trip to a luxurious villa in Puerto Rico that went for $6,000. The live auctioneers we had this year were different and great. The photobooth we had also gave extra life to the party and the Egyptian band inspired some great dancing!
GDG: What’s on the horizon for The Littlest Lamb?
Mira: We are happy to say that The Littlest Lamb obtained its 501(c)(3) tax exempt status from the IRS in September, 2007. From here, we will continue working on building the orphanage to hopefully be completed by August 2012, hiring staff in Egypt and continuing our fundraising efforts in NYC and abroad.
Visit The Littlest Lamb online to see how you can help. You can also contact Mira at MiraRiad@gmail.com to learn more about the organization. Tis the season to be giving!
Photo Credit: Steve Freihon
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