The Breast Cancer Research Foundation just hosted its annual Boston Hot Pink Party, and its guest list certainly lived up to its name’s fiery standards.
During the shindig, which welcomed about 450 guests to the InterContinental earlier this week, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Linda Holliday, executive director of the Bill Belichick Foundation, were ushered onto the stage and celebrated for their contributions to advancing breast cancer research. Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly and his wife and breast cancer survivor, Paqui Kelly, presented our local power couple with the Carolyn Lynch Humanitarian Award for their continued commitment to the cause.
When the duo of honor stepped into the spotlight and accepted the award, the famously stone-faced Belichick started absolutely beaming, as he gushed about Holliday and thanked his longtime leading lady for “broadening (his) vision and brightening (his) world” in front of the crowd. Following the fete’s series of feel-good speeches, partygoers were treated to a performance by The Flutie Brothers Band, with ex-Pat and legendary quarterback Doug Flutie manning the drums. And as the band jammed out to “Sweet Home Alabama,” retired tight end Rob Gronkowski and his model girlfriend Camille Kostek, who just returned from their Bahamas vacation, joined Holliday onstage and showed everyone they’ve got some serious dance moves.
Besides the football-forward crew, other notable guests spotted at the bash included: best-selling romance novelist Elin Hilderbrand; Holliday’s daughters Ashley and Kat Hess, aka the Hess Twins, who are local influencers and DJs; Rob Citrone, co-founder of Discovery Capital Management, and his wife, Cindy; Michael Forrester, CEO of Copper Rock Capital Partners, and his spouse, Courtney; Rob Hale, CEO of Granite Telecommunications and a co-founder of Copley Equity Partners, and his partner, Karen; Bill Karol, president and CEO of Koda Enterprises Group, and his other half, Sinesia; Leonard Lauder, chairman emeritus of the Estee Lauder Companies, and his photographer wife, Judy Glickman Lauder; Simone and Ted Winston of Winston Flowers; Suffolk Construction’s John Fish; Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia and his lady, Raina; Benoit Vuitton of Louis Vuitton royalty; and Bryan Rafanelli of the event planning elite.
By the end of the night, this year’s event managed to raise more than $2 million to support breast cancer research among New England-based scientists.
