Annual gala celebrates nonprofit’s 30th Anniversary

• Community Hope’s programs rescue more than 1,000 veterans and veteran families from homelessness
• Community Hope is recognizing David Cote for his support of the military and veterans
• Alex Gorsky is being recognized for his support of servicemen and women, and their families

PARSIPPANY More than 900 guests are slated to attend Community Hope’s 19th Annual Sparkle of Hope Dinner Auction on Thursday, to honor David Cote, chairman and CEO of Honeywell, and Alex Gorsky, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson.

The gala will commemorate Community Hope’s 30th anniversary and is one of the largest fund-raising events in New Jersey this year. The charity event benefits Community Hope’s programs to rescue more than 1,000 veterans and veteran families annually from homelessness. The gala also supports Community Hope’s residential programs serving hundreds of individuals daily in recovery from mental illness.

This will be Community Hope’s largest gala in the 19 years since pharmaceutical leader Fred Hassan, then-chief executive officer of Pharmacia & Upjohn, founded the gala to ensure sufficient community-based services to coincide with the pharmaceutical advancements in mental health treatment. Since 1997, the Sparkle of Hope event has raised more than $8.5 million and continues to grow into an event that brings together the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in support of a common cause.

Community Hope is recognizing Cote for his support of the military and veterans. Cote was elected president, CEO, and a member of Honeywell's Board in February 2002, and named chairman of the Board of the $40 billion Fortune 100 Corporation on July 1, 2002. Cote was elected in March 2014 as a Class B director to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to represent the interests of the public.

In 2012-13  Cote served as a founding member of the steering committee of the Campaign to Fix Debt, a bi-partisan effort to build support for a comprehensive U.S. debt reduction plan. Cote was named Vice Chair of the Business Roundtable (BRT) in 2011 and chairs its Energy and Environment Committee. In 2010, he was named by President Barack Obama to serve on the bipartisan National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, also known as the Simpson-Bowles Commission. Cote was named co-chair of the U.S.-India CEO Forum by President Obama in 2009, and has served on the Forum since July 2005. He has received numerous awards and honors. Most recently in 2014, Cote was selected for the Horatio Alger Award.

Gorsky, a West Point graduate and former U.S. Army captain, is being recognized for his support of servicemen and women, and their families, and his commitment to advancing mental health treatment in his career within the pharmaceutical industry. Gorsky is the seventh person to serve as chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson since it became a publicly traded company in 1944.

He began his Johnson & Johnson career as a sales representative with Janssen Pharmaceutical in 1988. Over the next 15 years, he advanced through positions of increasing responsibility in sales, marketing, and management. In 2001, he was appointedpPresident of Janssen, and in 2003, Gorsky was named Company Group Chairman of Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceuticals business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In 2008, he was named Company Group Chairman for Ethicon, Inc. and in September 2009, he was appointed Worldwide Chairman of the Medical Devices & Diagnostics segment. Gorsky became Chief Executive Officer on April 26, 2012 and Chairman of the Board on December 28, 2013.

Under his leadership, Johnson & Johnson has invested in a number of programs and partnerships designed to help veterans reconnect with their loved ones, heal from both the visible and invisible wounds, and look to reenter the workforce. Gorsky also recently received the Joseph Wharton Leadership Award and the CADCA Humanitarian of the Year Award, and was named one of the “100 Most Inspiring Leaders” by Pharma Voice.

Joining Founding Chair Fred Hassan, Partner and Managing Director of Warburg Pincus, in co-chairing the event are The Honorable Kim Guadagno, Lieutenant Governor, State of New Jersey; Aaron Graff, President and Chief Operating Officer, Ferring Pharmaceuticals; Brent Saunders, CEO and President, Allergan plc; John F. Crowley, Chairman and CEO, Amicus Therapeutics; Geno Germano, Group President Global Innovative Pharma Business, Pfizer Inc.; Jesper Hoiland, President, Novo Nordisk; Joseph Militano, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications, Finmeccanica N.A. and DRS Technologies; Bob Oliver, President and Chief Operating Officer, Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.; Shaji Procida, President and Chief Operating Officer of Eisai, Inc.; and  Kevin Rigby, Rigby Consulting LLC and recently-retired Vice President and Head, Public Affairs and Communications, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.

Leading sponsors of the event at the Palladium level are Accenture; Johnson & Johnson; McKinsey & Company, Inc. and at the Premier level is White and Case LLP. Presenting Sponsors include Allergan plc; The Boston Consulting Group; Celgene Corporation; DRS Technologies; Eisai Inc.; Ferring Pharmaceuticals; FoxKiser LLP; Goldman, Sachs & Co.; Mr. and Mrs. Fred Hassan; Honeywell; J.P.Morgan; Janssen Pharmaceuticals; Ostuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc.; Pfizer Inc.; Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; and WebMD.  Diamond Sponsors include Advanced Clinical; Brinks Gilson & Lione; Cardinal Health; Catalent Pharma Solutions; Connell Foley; Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP; Lowenstein Sandler, PC; McKesson Corporation; Novo Nordisk Inc.; Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide; Turing Pharmaceuticals; Ulmer & Berne LLP; and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP.

The gala is sold out; however, Community Hope is accepting donations through www.communityhope-nj.org in commemoration of the organization’s 30th anniversary and to support its mission to serve veterans and individuals with mental illness.

About Community Hope 

Community Hope was founded in 1985 by mental health professionals and family members of young adults with mental illness to establish residential programs where young adults could continue their recovery. In 2004, Community Hope expanded its mission to serve veterans homeless as a result of mental illness, combat induced trauma and substance abuse, and its Hope for Veterans® Transitional Housing Program opened as the largest program in New Jersey and the Tri-State area for homeless veterans.

Today, the organization is the largest charity serving homeless and needy veterans and their families. Recently, Community Hope opened the 62-unit Valley Brook Village for Veterans, a supportive housing development for homeless and disabled veterans in Bernards, and continues expanding its Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, which is helping save veteran households from homelessness in 13 of New Jersey’s 21 counties and eastern Pennsylvania.

Community Hope anticipates serving more than 1,300 individuals affected by homelessness, mental health issues, addiction and poverty in the year ahead.