StarBulletin.com

Concert to benefit lover of arts, children


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POSTED: Saturday, November 08, 2008

A fundraiser to help Honolulu publicist Elissa Josephsohn with mounting medical and living expenses as she fights cancer will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Restaurant Row, 500 Ala Moana Blvd.

Many performers will entertain at the benefit, called “That’s What Friends Are For,” and food and drinks will be donated by Josephsohn’s restaurant clients and beverage companies.

Lynne Wooddell, director of philanthropy at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children, said Josephsohn “has supported so many causes. She is always giving to others. It is time to give back to her even though she never asked.”

Donations can be made by going to www.friendsoflisa.com, which has details of the benefit and a silent auction. A limited live auction will be held with packages such as trips to New York and Los Angeles which include “behind-the-scenes priceless show biz experiences.”

To contribute to the online silent auction, contact Wendy Nagaishi, 342-3329.

The event’s volunteer committee is soliciting major tax-deductible donations. A longtime friend of Josephsohn’s made a matching grant of $40,000.

The committee said it is receiving donations from around the world to assist the publicist, “who has fostered a love of and appreciation for the arts and quality of life in so many people, especially her ‘adopted’ children and godchildren all over the planet whom she has taken to shows and concerts.”