Yiannos Vrousgos and Brooke Lichtenstein of Input Creative Studio, a New York City–based interior design and architecture firm, hosted Project Picnic, a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island. The participants included designers, New York School of Interior Design students and industry creatives who were invited to design and display picnic baskets to be sold at the charity event. Project Picnic raised $40,000, with all proceeds, including basket and ticket sales benefiting RMH-LI.
Paris Grant, a New York interior designer, took inspiration from her favorite season for her fall picnic basket design, which included ingredients to make s’mores for the kids and hot toddies for the parents. “I wanted my basket to highlight the warmth and comfort that the fall season brings, with the hopes that it will, in turn, bring a little warmth and comfort to the family that owns it,” she says.
Other picnic displays were created by Kravet; Angela Belt of Homepolish; NYSID students Shruti Marathe, Yu-Hsiang Fu, Tsai-Hsin Yu and Sri Keerthi Rayala; Ross Ott; Margreet Cevasco; and Gail Anderson of Visual Arts Press.
“We chose the Ronald McDonald House to host Project Picnic because it is such a pure charity that is completely transparent on how and where their funding is utilized," says Vrousgos and Lichtenstein. "They have a great spirit that is focused on fun and positivity and we felt Project Picnic would be a great opportunity for the house to host a more casual fundraiser that could appeal to a younger audience.”
