The place to be earlier this month in Central Florida was the 242-seat Planned Parenthood Orlando Benefit Dinner, a pink-and-black themed event titled “Brave .” It even had a waiting list.
“It was the who’s who of Central Florida,” Florida state Rep. Anna Eskamani (D-Orlando), who attended the April 18 fundraiser, told The Daily Beast. “It was a sold-out event.”
The dinner did not feature a celebrity speaker like other recent Planned Parenthood events in the area—actress Amber Tamblyn keynoted a dinner in Sarasota and author Judy Blume headlined one in West Palm Beach—or raise as much as a Naples soiree in February that raked in a million bucks.
But with a six-week abortion ban about to take effect in Florida, checkbooks were definitely open in affluent Winter Park that night and the event raised a record-breaking $400,000.
“This six-week abortion ban is not only devastating, but it’s a reality check for many who have historically been on the sidelines, thinking that we would never get to this point,” Eskamani said.