Youth, Purpose, and Good Company: The Young Angels Gala Raised Funds for Cancer Research at Crane Club

The philanthropic calendar has its share of serious evenings and its share of stylish ones. The 2026 Young Angels Gala at Crane Club managed to be both — a whimsical black-tie gathering on Monday, April 27, that raised funds for cancer research while drawing one of the better rooms New York's young social and philanthropic set has assembled this spring.

Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research presented the evening through its Young Professionals Committee, with Emmy Award-winning Fox 5 NY anchor Bianca Peters serving as host. The honoree was Elaine Chamberlain, founder and CEO of LÁYN and the Stay in Your LÁYN Foundation, recognized for her work in the wellness and empowerment space.

The Young Professionals Committee, founded by Ayaan Ahmed and anchored by chairs Andrew Warren, Becca Morris, Hugh Barton, and Louie Torrellas, has developed a format that makes philanthropy feel like an actual gathering rather than an obligation. Cocktails, passed appetizers, and music by David Katz, Neil Jackson, Tokyo Rose, and Jordan Emanuel sustained an energy that kept the Crane Club moving well past the last auction lot.

The room was well-dressed by any measure. Denise Rich arrived in a vivid floral gown and drew the kind of attention she has been drawing in New York for decades. Melissa and Joe Gorga worked the step-and-repeat with the ease of people who know they'll be photographed. A long co-chair list that spanned names from Adriana Ingenito and Alana Kramer to Jason Naylor, Kyle Persaud, and Vikrant Patel reflected the genuine breadth of the committee's reach.

Gabrielle's Angel Foundation, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, funds early-career scientists pursuing less toxic treatments for patients with leukemia, lymphoma, and related blood cancers. Since its founding in 1996, the Foundation has directed more than $47 million in grants, making it one of the largest non-governmental sources of grant support to blood cancer research in the country. On average, 88 cents of every dollar raised funds research directly.

The Young Angels model — a younger, louder, more nightlife-adjacent expression of the Foundation's mission — has proven effective at extending that work into a constituency that the typical charity gala format tends not to reach. That the evening was genuinely fun is, in this context, entirely the point.

For more information about the Foundation's work: www.gabriellesangels.org