Raven’s Ball celebrities help raise funds for Alaska Native health

TAMAR BEN-YOSEF

March 31, 2008 at 11:06AM AKST

The Alaska Tribal Health Consortium has a vision: It wants to make Alaska Natives the healthiest people in the world.

An Inaugural Raven’s Ball fundraiser held on Friday, March 28 at the Captain Cook Hotel in Anchorage was the second step towards reaching that goal.

The first step was formation of the Healthy Alaska Natives Foundation.

Making this vision a reality could present a great challenge considering the high rates of cancer, diabetes, depression, suicide and alcohol prevalent among Alaska Natives and the lack of basic sanitation and water systems in many of the rural communities.

Add to that the difficulty simply of traveling out of these communities to access medical care and the often-harsh weather.

And while Alaska Natives have the benefit of health care from Indian Health Service, there are still many areas that are not covered.

Under the umbrella of the Tribal Health Consortium, the foundation hopes to raise enough interest and money to pay for those services and areas of health care that fall short in IHS funding.

Cancer Care Improvement, Wellness and Prevention, Elder Health Care, Healthy Village Environment and Alaska Native Health Professions Scholarship Fund are the five areas of focus singled out by the foundation.

"There are 39 villages without water and sanitation," said Alisa Gilbert, Healthy Alaska Native Foundation director.

"These are preventable issues. We want sustainable projects. It’s useless to put Band-Aids on the problems," she said.

The sold-out Raven’s Ball, a black-tie dinner and auction, attracted not only 420 generous people ready to purchase auction items or a seat at one of the tables, but a large number of donations, still being totaled as of press time.

"In the weeks prior to the event, auction items were falling from the sky," Gilbert said.

"I am thrilled. I have never seen support like this."

The event was made even more public by the presence of three celebrities who emceed the event.

Irene Bidard, part Inupiaq and originally from Alaska, has starred in 42 films playing mainly roles of Native American women. She was the voice and inspiration for Disney’s Pocahontas.

Sam Talbot is a chef and celebrity host of Bravo’s television show "Top Chef." After being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, he was forced to strictly follow a healthy diet, a focus reflected in every dish he creates. Talbott is the spokesperson for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and co-founder of Chefs for a Cure Foundation.

The third celebrity was Wes Studi, best known for his powerful portrayal of Magua in "The Last of the Mohicans," among many other screen credits.

Tamar Ben-Yosef can be reached at (907) 348-2419 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 419.