28 Pics of Hetrick-Martin Institute’s School’s Out Benefit Event for Queer Youth

Last month, the Hetrick-Martin Institute’s held its annual School’s Out benefit at the home of Nathan Orsman and Jose Castro in the Hamptons. The star-studded event broke the group's previous record of money raised with more than $600,000 brought in so far.

HMI is the country’s oldest LGBTQ+ organization working with youth, primarily youth of color, between 13 and 24 years old. The group offers a variety of services from mental health counseling to tutoring support.

“We're there to provide a community of wellness and care for LGBTQIA+ young people. More than 90 percent of them are young people of color, so they sit at a really challenging intersection in terms of accessing services, navigating systems that aren't really built for them, and so HMI acts as a safety net to those young people,” said the group’s interim CEO and chief development officer, Amy Harclerode.

Hosted by Douglas Ellimans Benjamin Dixon, Alessandro Ford-Rippolone, and The Points Guy founder Brian Kelly, the party featured synchronized swimmers with parasols and hunky mermen lounging around the pool, and a dinner with courses by Duryea’s, STK steak, Almond and Kerber’s Farm with place settings by Christophel, according to press release.

A paddle raise, which was hosted by designer Dennis Basso, brought in $150,000, had Kelly Rippa and Mark Consuelos raising theirs first.

Other guests included Candace Bushnell who auctioned off tickets and dinner for her upcoming show at Canoe Place Inn, Katie Lee, Don Lemon, Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski, Thom Filicia, Marci Klien, and Peter Som among others.

Rippa and Conseulos shared their experience at the event on their morning show LIVE with photos of them and the synchronized swimmers with Rippa joking, “I'm lucky if I can get a float in my pool but now I want synchronized swimmers. I was mesmerized and I have found my sport! I can go underwater, I can hold my breath, I like gymnastics, ballet, and chic costumes and I think I have the right jene se qua.”

Check out the photos below and find out more information about the Hetrick-Martin Institute's work here.

(Photos by of Andrew Werner.)