The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation will hold its 20th annual Hamptons Happening event in Bridgehampton on Saturday, July 6. We caught up with this year’s honorees: DJ CherishTheLuv, Chef Francois Payard, Fern Mallis, Stephen Kliegerman, Cheri Kaufman, and Arthur F. Backal.
Congratulations on being honored. How did you become involved with the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation’s Hamptons Happening event?
Fern Mallis: I am delighted to be honored. I have always been aware of this prestigious organization, although this is the first time I’m attending. I try to stay a bit low-key in the summer. When both of the other honorees, Cheri and Arthur, reached out to me and invited me to be celebrated with the “Fashion” award alongside them… I said yes. I’ve known them both for a very long time and have great respect for all the do. I’m very excited and thrilled to be honored with them!
Chef Francois Payard: I became involved in this cancer foundation because my father and my best friend passed away from cancer. I am very concerned and interested in the ongoing research and progress.
Stephen G. Kliegerman: My involvement in the Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation is due to my long-standing friendship and business relationship with Mark Friedman, who nominated me for this honor.
DJ CherishTheLuv: I was invited by Mark Friedman. He reached out to me last year, but I was in LA.
Cheri Kaufman: The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation’s annual summer Happening Event is one of the highlights of the season in the Hamptons. Everyone looks forward to it, especially because it is always great fun and supports such a worthy cause. My involvement with the Foundation, like so many other supporters, began many summers ago when the Happening found a home at the beautiful estate of my friends Ken and Maria Fishel in Bridgehampton. It was at the summer event that I was first introduced to Dr. Samuel Waxman. This remarkable medical researcher has written hundreds of scientific papers and was one of the first researchers to study differentiation therapy as a method of cancer treatment. Ever since that meeting, I have been a contributor to the foundation and an active champion for the great work it does.
Arthur Backal: Thank you. It is a great honor. I became involved several years ago though friends on the board and have been producing the Hamptons event.
Why is cancer research important to you?
Cheri Kaufman: A few years ago, I lost a dear friend who was so close that she was like a little sister to me. Her name was Yin Chu. She was a leader of the United Nations Youth Assembly. She was brilliant, kind, funny and talented to the point of high excellence as a leader, fine artist, concert pianist, and true friend. When cancer invaded her young life, she greeted it with equanimity and courage. After a full year in hospital and the remarkable efforts of her doctors and modern medicine, she emerged back to health, although a bit frail from all the chemotherapy she had endured. She was so proud she had been able to soldier through. Just as she was building back her normal life, and her immune system, a pre-pandemic flu took her from us. Life is fragile and so precious. That is why we need, and value, the Waxman Foundation. Its broadly directed research aims to save the promise of a Yin Chu. Thankfully it has many, many proven successes. Lives are being saved every day. And this means that individuals, families and communities stay resilient, strong and productive. In the areas of women’s health, think of the vital roles our sisters play in the fabric of our lives and the continuity of society. Cancer must be defeated.
Chef Francois Payard: It’s important to me to know that it will save future lives.
Fern Mallis: Cancer research is extremely important to me and should be to every single person on this planet — since everyone is affected by cancer. I don’t think there’s a single person who doesn’t know someone who is living with cancer or passed away because of this hideous, pervasive disease. I sadly lost my younger sister at an early age to a very aggressive small-cell lung cancer. She left behind three spectacular, accomplished daughters and four precious grandchildren. She never got to meet three of them or see her daughter’s careers sky rocket. My mother also had lung cancer — but thankfully, it didn’t kill her. I have lost several friends to different cancers throughout the years, making this one of the most important causes out there. It’s time to eradicate cancer and find cures for it in our lifetime.
DJ CherishTheLuv: Cancer research is so important to me because I hope one day we can find cures so that people like me and so many don’t have to experience this disease and spend the rest of their life healing and struggling.
Stephen G. Kliegerman: Unfortunately, numerous family members of mine have been stricken with cancer, including my sister, my ex-wife (the mother of my children), two of my aunts and cousins, as well as close colleagues. Cancer has taken two very dear family members and is currently trying to take my children’s mother as well, although she is fighting it with every treatment and great strength. Our family has suffered great loss and heartache due to cancer, and I hope my efforts help to both alleviate my family’s trauma as well as that of others near and dear to me.
Arthur Backal: My dad passed away from cancer at a young age, and this past year, my dear friend and business partner also was lost to cancer. Many family members and friends as well have been affected by this dreadful disease. I want to do as much as I can to raise awareness and fundraise to help with research and treatments to help people live longer and better when they are dealing with cancer.
What are you most looking forward to at this year’s event?
DJ CherishTheLuv: I am looking forward to meeting others in this incredible network of supporters to help me publish my memoir and lock in my legacy. My story is one of beating the odds unlike any other; having been taken off of treatment in 2013 and still around today… is a miracle of spirit.
Arthur Backal: To raise as much money as possible and have the best Hamptons Happening yet on its 20th anniversary. Try to bring new people to the event and everyone leave knowing they made a positive difference in helping so many others.
Fern Mallis: I am looking forward to having a good time at Hamptons Happening, to see many old and new friends, enjoy all the East End’s culinary treats. I expect this gala to be a huge success and hope we raise lots of money. Also, I was able to get a sneak peak of some of the silent and live auction items and I am looking forward to those as well!
Stephen G. Kliegerman: I look forward to raising awareness and funds to continue to find new treatments that will one day help to eradicate this awful disease that has impacted so many and continues to do so.
Chef Francois Payard: As an honoree, I plan to help with my work and my experience on one side, I also want to show my continuing interest on the other side.
Cheri Kaufman: The Hamptons Happening is a truly terrific party, known for fantastic food, fun, flirting, dancing and for being a people-watching paradise. East Enders love it. We come together for a great cause while celebrating friendships, making new ones, and renewing old ones. It is an event for hope and for life. Cancer affects all of us. Its impact is manifest across all levels of community and society. The Samuel Waxman Cancer Research Foundation marshals the efforts of science across many disciplines of cancer research and medicine. This is what they call “differentiation therapy.” Great strides are being made all the time. And each success builds on the last and adds to the next. Medicine and science are all about exploration and discovery. There is hope on the horizon. Come celebrate life and these wondrous advances. I always say: “You want a better world, go create it.”
