Victor Garber, David Hyde Pierce and More Set for FORGET-ME-NOT Gala to End Alzheimer's Tonight

Members of New York City's philanthropic, business, health care and Alzheimer's communities will join forces at the annual "Forget-Me-Not" Gala, An Evening to End Alzheimer's hosted by the Alzheimer's Association, New York City Chapter. The event is expected to raise $1.2 million.

Actor Victor Garber, who most recently appeared in Argo, winner of this year's Academy Award for Best Picture, will emcee the event. An ardent supporter of the Chapter, he lost both parents to complications from Alzheimer's disease. Tony Award winner and Alzheimer's advocate David Hyde Pierce, whose father and grandfather died from the disease, will also be on hand.

Christian G. Heilmann, Chief Fiduciary Executive, U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, will receive the Chapter's Community Leadership Award for his commitment to addressing the issues of eldercare that are so prominent in today's family dynamics and his leadership in developing the firm's recently introduced Eldercare Planning program.

The Chapter's Creative Leadership Award will go to the Tony nominated Laurie Metcalf and Manhattan Theatre Club's Broadway production of "The Other Place" for Metcalf's brilliant performance in a drama that movingly - and realistically - portrays the devastating emotional impact of early onset dementia. Metcalf is extraordinary as a physician struggling with the challenges and frustrations of declining cognition and family conflict.

Two members of the Chapter's Junior Committee, Preeti Ashok Parasharami and Mikhail Raybshteyn, both Ernst & Young employees, will receive the Chapter's Young Leadership Award for working to promote the Chapter's programs and raising awareness about Alzheimer's and dementia.

The event will take place at The Pierre: 2 East 61st Street at Fifth Avenue in Manhattan tonight, June 3, 2013.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride