Dear Commons Community,
Coming on the heels of CEOs resigning from Donald Trump’s advisory councils over his comments about the violence in Charlottesville last weekend, two major nonprofit organizations are canceling their plans to host upcoming events at the President’s Mar-a-Lago Club.
The Cleveland Clinic, a nonprofit medical center, announced its decision to cancel hosting its annual charity gala at the Palm Beach, Florida, resort in a statement on yesterday.
“After careful consideration, Cleveland Clinic has decided that it will not hold a Florida fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago in 2018,” the statement said. “We thank the staff of Mar-a-Lago for their service over the years.”
The annual event, which typically raises around $1 million and is attended by roughly 500 people, had been scheduled to take place on Feb. 24, 2018 and would have marked eight years in a row at the location.
Sheil told The Huffington Post there were “a variety of reasons” the clinic decided to drop Mar-a-Lago, but wouldn’t elaborate much further.
“I think the community really was asking us to not have it there,” Sheil said, adding that the decision was made Thursday morning.
The clinic is currently looking into other locations to host the gala.
Hours after Cleveland Clinic announced their plans to scrap their planned event, the American Cancer Society followed suit.
The nationwide health organization confirmed it is seeking a new venue to host its Island of Palm Beach gala on Feb. 22, 2018 in a statement to The Huffington Post. The organization has hosted the event at Mar-a-Lago since 2007.
“When we chose to hold our 2018 event and related dinner at Mar-a-Lago, we selected the venue based on a variety of factors, including costs and venue requirements,” the statement said.
“Our values and commitment to diversity are critical as we work to address the impact of cancer in every community,” the statement continued. “It has become increasingly clear that the challenge to those values is outweighing other business considerations.”
The American Cancer Society and Cleveland Clinic are the latest organizations to distance themselves from Trump following nearly a week of withering criticism over his response to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that left one dead and dozens injured.
Toby Cosgrove, the chief executive of Cleveland Clinic was a member of the Strategic and Policy Forum, one of Trump’s two business advisory councils that disbanded this week in the wake of Trump’s explosive comments.
The actions on the part of the Cleveland Clinic and the American Cancer Society hit Trump where it hurts. Wound’t it be interesting if they turned into a full-scale boycott.
Tony
