Phillies Owner's Wife Called Anal at Project Home Tribute

Last night was the 25th anniversary gala of Project Home, the charity founded by indomitable Sister Mary Scullion and Joan Dawson-McConnon that endeavors to end all homelessness in Philadelphia. The charity has helped more than 8000 people get off the streets and built more than 600 housing units. Phillies part owner John and Leigh Middleton were honored for their transformative gift of over $15 million to the charity.

Leigh and John Middleton accepting their honor

The Philadelphia society types came out for the dinner, which was attended by 1250 and raised $2.1 million. Rock star Jon Bon Jovi, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, Bill Giles of the Phillies as well as the formerly homeless residents of Project Home attended the event. Pennsylvania's First Lady, Susan Corbett, Senator Bob Casey, and Mayor Michael Nutter also attended the event.

Eagles owner Jeffrey and Tina Lurie,  Comcast CEO Brian and Aline Roberts, and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim

NBC's Meet the Press moderator David Gregory, whose show is currently in third place, was the evening's host. I asked him if there was any truth to the Washington Post report that a psychological consultant have been hired to help him. He dismissed the story with "It's just noise." Still I would have liked to be a fly on the wall during Gregory's conversation with his boss, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. No one was smiling.

Meet the Press moderator talking with his boss Comcast CEO Brian Roberts

Bon Jovi in his short but sweet speech made it clear who was the top dog in his relationship with Project Home co-founder Sister Mary Scullion. The nun is the boss of the rock star. He decided to become involved with the homeless after looking out his Philadelphia hotel room and seeing the homeless freezing on the street. He thought, This is not what our forefathers intended."

Bon Jovi teased Sister Mary Scullion during his speech. 

Binswanger Corp CEO David Binswanger and his wife Dorothy revealed some interesting details about the Middletons in their introduction of the couple. The couple works hard to deflect attention from themselves. They chose a seat at Phillies home game, to the left of the catcher, which is just out of camera range. The Middletons bought John's mother's 107 year old house and are refurbishing it. David Binwanger teased John Middleton about constantly looking at his phone and always being serious. Dorothy described Leigh Middleton as super organized or, in her words, "anal".

The World Bank President Jim Yong Kim gave a moving tribute to the Middletons in which he called them the new face of philanthropy. Kim announced that the World Bank is committed to ending extreme poverty in 15 years. He credited John Middleton with helping him developing a more scientific system for distributing aid.

He said, "I am so excited to be here. I have known John and Leigh Middleton for five years. There are no two people in the world that I admire more. John and Leigh ask simple questions of the people they work with 1. Do you have heart? 2. Do you grit? 3. Are you committed? 4. Do you use scientific evidence to improve the work that you do?"

I left the dinner with a queasy feeling in my stomach. I am not sure how I feel about going to a fancy gala dinner to raise money for the homeless. It was interesting to note two of the biggest supporters of the night made their fortunes from tobacco and sugary drinks, which have decimated poor communities.

Helping the homeless is hard work complicated by obstacles such as mental health and addiction. Yet, I was surprised how few people (8000 people) they had brought in from the streets or homes they had built (600) in a quarter century since the richest people in the city and Bon Jovi fund them. Mega developer Bart Blatstein does that in a year. When you break it down,  Project Home helped 320 people a year and built 24 homes a year.

The North Philly Stompers and the Phillie Phanatic led the crowd to dinner

David Binswanger and Marjorie Honickman are two major donors to Project Home

The 411 on Laurel House, Designated Charity for Garrett Reid

Eagles Coach Andy Reid and his wife Tammy have asked that donations be made to Laurel House in lieu of flowers. I thought that I would pass on this statement from Tina Reynolds, director of development and community affairs at Laurel House, so that something good could come out of the tragedy of Garrett Reid's death.

Laurel House is a comprehensive domestic violence agency in Montgomery County that has been around for over 32 years. Our services include a 24 hour hotline, emergency shelter for women and children, transitional housing, individual and group counseling, crisis response, and community education. The Reids have been involved and supporters of our agency for years. Tammy Reid has been an active member of Advisory Board for many years. They are great friends and we are heart broken at the news. We are humbled and honored that they have chosen Laurel House to receive donations in Garrett's memory.

Please feel free to visit our website at www.laurel-house.org.

Tina Reynolds
Director of Development & Community Relations

Phillies' Pitcher Madson's Wife Cries Foul

Recently, pitcher Ryan Madson and his wife Sarah hosted a fundraiser for Manna, the organization that provides meals to aids and cancer patients. Eagles offensive tackle Winston Justice and his wife Dania were the other hosts.

Madson humbly called himself “the entertainment.” But he was much more. He raised $750 for Manna by auctioning off an autographed Manna T shirt with his number on it. Both Madsons said they do not have their own foundation but like to “lend their support to a variety of charities.”

Sarah Madson, festooned with a necklace made from the top of a World Series ring that the Phillies gave all the players wives, is five months pregnant with her fourth child. The Madsons are hoping for a girl because their daughter wants a little sister.

Just back from spring training, she complaining that “her house (a mansion on the mainline) looked like a bomb had hit it.” Maybe that is why she decided to unload on the fans.

Sarah Madson declared, “I hate the fans. It is bad enough that they bother us during the season, but they will not leave us alone in December when we go out to eat. We stayed here during the off season last year, but we will be going to California this year. There must be something particularly bad about Phillies fans because all the players leave in the off season.”

She had particular snappish words for the female fans of her husband. “Can you believe that they have the gall to give my husband their number in front of me?”

The Justices were busy that week. The next night, they were hosting a benefit the next night at their coffee shop Elixr for the Japanese Red Cross.

Michael Vick and Oprah Unlikely to Happen

My sources at the Eagles say that Vick was strongly discouraged from appearing on Oprah because she is such an avid dog lover. Oprah now has a total of five dogs. She recently adopted and brought on her show two new springer spaniel pups.
At first, Vick was flattered that Oprah wanted him on the show. (Piers Morgan of CNN never had a chance.)Traditionally, she is a soft interview. Her rabid love of dogs may have made her growl with displeasure.