An Evening of Jazz in the Jungle for Lupus November 14, 2009

What:      “An Evening of Jazz in the Jungle”  
Who:       Lupus Foundation of America, OK Chapter and the public!
Where: Oklahoma City Zoo, Canopy Restaurant
When: Sat., Nov. 14th, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. 
                                                
On Saturday, November 14th, the Oklahoma City Zoo Canopy Restaurant will come alive with the annual gala fundraising event “Evening of Jazz in the Jungle” to benefit the Lupus Foundation of America, Oklahoma Chapter.
Jazz in the Jungle will include auctions, a buffet dinner and live entertainment by Resident Funk who will provide music ranging from rock and funk to jazz and reggae.
Jon Hansen and Ben Buckland will act as co-auctioneers for the Jazz in the Jungle event. Hansen was a career firefighter who was at the forefront of the rescue effort at the Murrah Federal Building in 1995. A member of the LFA-OK Board of Directors, Hansen said, "I got involved with the foundation after watching my own daughter suffer with this debilitating disease. I know first hand what goes along with lupus. My personal involvement is a plea for people to help my daughter and others like her by supporting the Oklahoma Lupus Foundation with a donation and by attending the Jazz in the Jungle event."
Sharing the auctioneer podium with Hansen will be Ben Buckland, owner of Buckland Auctions & Sales. Buckland is well known as the emcee for the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, the Oklahoma City Blazers and other sports venues across the nation.
Both live and silent auctions will feature items including a vacation escape in Mexico and a personal training experience with Travis Garza, “The Master of Body Transformation”. Other items include autographed footballs from OU Heisman trophy winner Sam Bradford and Adrian Peterson, former OU great, now running back for the Minnesota Vikings.
That evening, Janna Dunagan Hall, LFA-OK Board of Directors Chair and Master of Ceremonies will present this year's Outstanding Achievement Award to Dr. Joan T. Merrill. Dr. Merrill is the Medical Director of the Lupus Foundation of America and serves on the Medical Advisory Board for the LFA-OK Chapter. She also is head of the Clinical Pharmacology Research Program at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF), OMRF Professor of Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University in New York City.
Hall will also bestow the Lifetime Achievement Award to Honorary Board Member Leonard O'Daniell, who has dedicated his time and talents making significant fundamental contributions to the LFA-Oklahoma Chapter for over twenty years.
Lupus is a painful, debilitating, chronic auto-immune disease, which affects as many as 25,000 Oklahomans, 9 out of 10 of whom are women. It is hoped that the event will raise awareness of its devastating affects.
An Evening of Jazz in the Jungle is open to the public and will be entertaining, informative and most importantly beneficial for those with lupus. Gala event tickets are $50 per person or $300 for a table for six and are available now by calling Lea Jensen at LFA-OK at 405-427-8787.

Official Website: http://www.oklupus.com