Thursday night, the Stephen A. Schwartzman building of the New York Public Library was transformed from a quiet study to a grand ballroom as the host site for the 2012 Blossom Ball. The 4th annual event was an effort to raise funds and awareness for the Endometriosis Foundation of America (EFA) and to celebrate another year of the organization’s success. The red carpet was rolled out for the arriving celebrities attending the evening in style, surrounded by a bevy of IMG models and some of New York City’s most lavish citizens, dolled up in their duds for a classy cocktail reception, a seated dinner, and a DJ led dance party.

The largely unknown affliction, endometriosis, is a commonly undetected condition that affects up to 8.5 million women in North America alone, not to mention a total of 176 million around the world. Medically speaking, the gynecological ailment causes debilitating pelvic discomfort resulting from internal uterine cells growing on the uterus’ outer cavity and the effects become exacerbated by different hormonal changes and by menstruation. The symptoms can range from seemingly none at all to severe pain and cramping, frequent and painful urination, cysts, fatigue, and even infertility. And unfortunately, diagnosis is incredibly difficult to determine without a surgical examination, which is typically not covered by most insurance providers. But that’s why Thursday night’s gala event was so important in educating the medical community and the public by helping to spread awareness and working toward finding and funding a cure.

The EFA is a non-profit organization tasked with the spreading of said awareness. Led by Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi and co-founder Dr. Tamer Seckin, MD, the red carpet welcomed other celebrities like Honorary Committee Members Tyra Banks and Blondie’s Deborah Harry as well as one of the evening’s chairs, actress Susan Sarandon. Star struck guests couldn’t help but take pictures as the stars walked the lengthy red carpet, posing together, in the midst of a sea of flashing bulbs. The aforementioned models- Lisalla Montenegro, Cory Kennedy, Lonneke Engel, and Genevieve Morton- joined the star studded red carpet and were simply breathtaking, casually walking down photography row as they’d done hundreds of times before.

With an estimated 5-10% of women afflicted by endometriosis, the disease is certainly one that warrants more attention than it currently receives. By simply taking a few minutes to check out the Foundation’s website or even bidding on some of the incredible items up for auction at CharityBuzz.com (Pitch your movie to Joel Schumacher, Attend Top Chef’s Restaurant Wars), you’re doing your small part to become familiarized with the disease. By bringing it to light by covering the 2012 Blossom Ball, we can only hope that we’ve done ours and that a cure is within reach.

- Jane Van Arsdale