Local Event: PETA Hosts Magical Award Ceremony (PHOTOS)

March 24, 2023 –
From PETA

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For Immediate Release:
March 24, 2023

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – Yesterday evening, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk, along with other PETA senior staffers and key supporters, including Miami-based CNN en Español journalist María Celeste Arrarás (a past winner of PETA’s Humanitarian Award), gathered at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts for a magic-themed event celebrating PETA’s animal rescues—including following the earthquakes in Turkey and during the war in Ukraine—and landmark achievements in animal protection. In the event’s highlight, locally based philanthropist and honorary director of PETA Nanci Alexander presented the 2023 Nanci Alexander Activist Award—one of PETA’s highest honors—to animal hero John Scheib in recognition of his exceptional work to end horse racing subsidies. Photos are available here.

Acoustic guitarist Tony Cruz serenaded attendees, who included Univision reporter Xiomara González-Govea. Guests mingled as they snacked on specialty vegan hors d’oeuvres, such as crispy fried oyster mushroom tempura and Gardein “fish” tacos, as well as made-to-order desserts from the cruelty-free cookie dough station. Daring tales of PETA’s animal rescues were celebrated with a specialty cocktail called “The Great Escape,” made with color-changing Empress 1908 Gin.

“Everyone helped pull the radish out of the hat for this enchanting evening honoring animal heroes, celebrating recent victories, and stoking excitement for what’s ahead,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is delighted that everyone was able to come together and looks forward to waving a wand for animal rights alongside our kind supporters for years to come.”

A Fort Lauderdale powerhouse, Alexander founded the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida in 1989, when animal rights was still a new idea to many. She was among the first to spark debate over SeaWorld’s confinement of orcas and other marine animals and was behind Florida’s pig gestation-crate ban. She is honored at PETA’s Washington, D.C., headquarters, The Nanci Alexander Center for Animal Rights. The Nanci Alexander Award is presented annually to a compassionate individual whose commitment to animal rights is helping to change the world and move PETA’s vital work for animals forward.

PETA—whose motto reads, “Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.