Former Real Atlanta Housewife DeShawn Snow, who struggled to host a successful charity event on reality TV, has been linked to another fund-raising flop.
Now two groups supporting the education and socialization of young girls have gone without their promised payday.
Weak ticket sales and sponsorship bailouts dimmed the light on Snow’s “Night of A Thousand Stars Gala 2009” in August in the swank ballroom of Twelve Hotel in Atlantic Station. The special event, which featured VIP tables carrying a $6,500 price-tag, was supposed to benefit Snow’s foundation, Ivy Preparatory Academy, an all-girls charter school, and Girls Inc., a club empowering young ladies to achieve.
Two months after the fancy Atlantic Station gala, however, neither group received a dime from Snow, wife of former NBA player Eric Snow, or a call explaining why, officials said.
“I have not heard from Snow at all, I have not heard from the foundation,’’ said Nina Gilbert, head of school for Ivy Prep, which has 310 sixth and seventh graders. “At this point, I have been shocked by a lot less.’’
The fund-raising fiasco is just one of several setbacks Ivy Prep, one of the state’s new Georgia Commission charter schools, has faced in its second year serving students. Recently, its students were brought to tears by a lawsuit filed against Ivy Prep and the state by Gwinnett County School District, their former educator. The lawsuit threatens the funding and the future of the school.
Gilbert said Snow stepped forward to help Ivy Prep with the benefit during a time when it struggled to make payroll.
Birgit Burton, a fund-raising consultant, introduced Gilbert and Snow and worked behind the scenes to organize the gala.
Burton said she suffered more than $9,000 in losses for the $35,000 event despite the buzz it generated on Facebook among those saying they wouldn’t miss it. Tickets cost $500 a head.
“It was a victim of the economy,” said Burton, who helps to raise millions of dollars for Georgia Tech as part of its foundation relations team. “As the event started getting closer, people started backing out. We had three tables to cancel in the last week.”
Burton said Snow donated the sponsorship invitations, the programs and videography for the event, but eventually the former reality TV star wanted to back out of it to avoid a financial disaster.
“She asked to cancel it a week before,” Burton said. “DeShawn made it very clear, that she wasn’t going to be responsible for any bills that sponsorships didn’t cover. She wasn’t going to take any money from her pocket or from the foundation’s coffers.”
Burton said she moved forward with the gala as planned hoping the school and organization could at least benefit from the exposure.
Snow was unavailable for comment but an employee who handles her New York division said she relied on Burton to orchestrate the gala.
“She was a paid consultant,” said Richard Heard, based in New York. “The DeShawn Snow Foundation is a very, very reputable company.”
Burton said she did not charge a fee for organizing the event. She said she had to write $19,199 in checks to pay vendors after the gala failed to attract enough ticket sales and sponsors.
“DeShawn gave me $10,000 of what was collected after the event was over,” Burton said.
Meanwhile, another charity event for Ivy Prep held in a hall at Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Lilburn, netted the school $12,000 in September. Grammy Award-winner Regina Belle, now a gospel artist, was the keynote speaker and performer.
“It was just as beautiful,” Gilbert said. “We got the check that night after dinner.”
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