At a catwalk held by family-owned jeweler Le Vian on June 2 in Las Vegas, a billionaire and a waiter became the unexpected stars of the show.
At the company’s 20th anniversary Chocolate Diamonds catwalk fundraiser, Le Vian CEO Eddie LeVian announced that his company would be matching donations for children’s and cancer charities up to $175,000. One donor pledged the full $175,000.
LeVian then invited other smaller donations which came from the floor, with each donor being gifted a balloon and a rose as a thank you.
A waiter, whom the Daily Mail identified as Diego Mario Galietti, suddenly took the roving microphone. Through tears, he explained that he was a single dad and pledged $200 in honor of his father, Luis DaSilva, who had died of cancer at age 55, and in honor of his daughter, who is 7. The 500-strong audience erupted into a standing ovation.
The total raised for charities on the night was $450,000, with Le Vian and a billionaire donor ultimately both raising their donations to $200,000 each.
The billionaire top donor has now offered the waiter a job in his property company. The billionaire donor himself was orphaned at a young age and built himself up from troubled beginnings to become a plumber, a builder and now a property mogul in the U.S. market.
Charities supported by the fundraiser were Jewelers for Children, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and the Rafa Foundation.
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