Buckhead Rotary Foundation Ball Raises Funds for Service Organization

Buckhead Rotary plans its 2014 Foundation Ball on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014 at 103 West.

The ball will support the club's foundation, which funds charities and programs around Atlanta and the world:

• A full scholarship for an international student at Georgia State University,
• A Habitat for Humanity build each year,
• Support for Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of Atlanta,
• A tennis tournament and a basketball tournament for Buckhead high schools,
• An AIDS awareness program in the Atlanta City Schools,
• The worldwide Polio Plus Program, and
• An International exchange program for mid-level executives.

Honorees in 2014 will be Laura Turner Seydel and Rutherford Seydel. Laura is chairperson of the Captain Planet Foundation, which promotes hands-on environmental education projects worldwide. She works with the Environmental Working Group to limit the toxic chemicals in food, air, water and consumer products. She also co-founded Mothers and Others for Clean Air and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.

Laura serves on her family’s foundation boards including The Turner Foundation, Jane Smith Turner Foundation, the Turner Endangered Species Fund, and Ted’s Montana Grill. She also serves on national boards including League of Conservation Voters, Defenders of Wildlife, Waterkeeper Alliance, the Carter Center Board of Councilors, as well as serving on the advisory board for the Green Schools Alliance and Ray C. Anderson Foundation. She is also a member of the Rotary Club of Downtown Atlanta.

John Rutherford Seydel II is a partner in the firm of Davis, Pickren, Seydel & Sneed, LLP with a corporate practice focusing on environmental and conservation law, commerce and residential real estate, nonprofit organization structuring and operation, and general for-profit business matters. Seydel coordinates and manages the firm’s corporate practice group.

Seydel is co-founder and chairman of the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Inc.; chairman of the board of the School of Ecology at the University of Georgia; chairman of The Conservation Fund;  board member of Georgia Conservation Voters and Vasser Woolley Foundation.  He is an officer and board member of Paul B. and Mildred Seydel Foundation; an officer of United Nations Foundation, Turner Foundation, Turner Endangered Species Foundation, the Better World Fund Inc., Ted’s Montana Grill, Waterkeeper Alliance, Land Trust Alliance and Captain Planet Foundation. In addition, Seydel is a trustee for the Park of the National Parks Conservation Association.

Laura and Rutherford live with their three children, John R., Florence Vasser and Laura Elizabeth, in their home, EcoManor, the first LEED certified Gold residence in the Southeast.

The Foundation Ball event chairs are Elizabeth Gill and Kathleen Gegan. Sponsor chair is DuVall Brumby. Auction chair is Sara Pinkerton. President of the Buckhead Rotary Club for 2013 is Bill Knight and Elizabeth Gill is President-elect.

Tickets on Sale

Patron tickets for the Foundation Ball start at $500 per couple and sponsorships are from $1,500 to $10,000. For more information and an invitation, call Kay Quigley at 404-933-6637.