From left: Donna Marotta, with her grandmother, Marie Moretti, and mother, Eleanor Marotta

“My grandmother was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma last April,” says Tribeca resident Donna Marotta. “No one in my family had had cancer before—particularly one we’d never heard of. My grandmother had eleven children, and it was devastating for everybody.” Marotta became the advocate for her grandmother, talking to doctors on her behalf. As she learned about Multiple Myeloma—a painful cancer of the bone, it has no cure but it is treatable—she discovered the International Myeloma Foundation. And that’s when she realized that the only way to work toward a cure was to raise money. With two friends, Nicole Bennett and Melanie Lawley, she started Tribecans for the Fight Against Myeloma and began organizing a benefit, “A Night of Wellness and Beauty.” Marotta, whose background is in the beauty industry, got in touch with people about donating time and products: Skincare expert Yona Gonen, Urban Nutrients‘ Marie Dulev, and celebrity manicurist Elisa Ferri will speak at the event; SkinCeuticals, Arbonne, Estée Lauder, Equinox, and Lisa Stewart Jewelry are among the companies that have made donations for the auction and the goodie bags. The benefit, which will be held March 16 at 7 p.m. at 50 Murray, requires a $25 donation and is limited to 30 people. “We’re starting small,” says Marotta.

For more information on “A Night of Wellness and Beauty,” see online.myeloma.org/netcommunity/tribecansforthefightagainstmyeloma.