Join us for Congenital Hyperinsulinism International’s (CHI) signature annual event bringing together community, philanthropy, and hope to support those affected by HI. The Sugar Soirée will be held on the evening of Saturday, November 21st, at The Highlawn, a historic venue with spectacular New York City skyline views in West Orange, New Jersey.
CHI envisions a future where every baby, child, or adult born with HI can access essential medication, surgeries, blood sugar testing supplies, effective treatments, and, ultimately, a cure — a goal toward which we and our scientific partners are working tirelessly to achieve. Our mission is driven by the urgent need to protect individuals from the serious risks of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), including preventable brain injury and loss of life, while helping individuals and families live with greater safety, stability, support and hope. As a global lifeline for those with HI and their families, CHI strives to create a world where “lows” are a thing of the past.
Funds raised at the Sugar Soirée will continue to advance our work:
- raising vital awareness of HI to prevent severe and prolonged hypoglycemia and its devastating consequences
- funding HI research that leads to early diagnoses, improved standards of care, better treatments, and ultimately, a cure
- helping patients gain access to specialized treatment, medications, and essential supplies
The event also provides CHI an opportunity to celebrate achievements and milestones reached throughout the year, and to honor outstanding champions of the HI community through the Sugar Soirée’s annual Be My Sugar awards. We are excited to announce the recipients of the 2026 Be My Sugar Awards very soon, whom we look forward to honoring at the Sugar Soirée.
The master of ceremonies will be award-winning broadcast journalist Cheri Preston. Cheri anchors the ABC News Morning Drive updates at the top and bottom of the hour for radio stations and podcast audiences nationwide. She recently received the 2025 Gracie award for Outstanding Radio News Anchor from the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation — her fourth Gracie overall. A seasoned breaking-news veteran, Cheri has reported on some of the biggest stories of the past few decades, including 9/11, Superstorm Sandy, the capture of the Boston Marathon bombing suspect, the wedding of Prince Harry, the Sandy Hook shootings, the Covid-19 Pandemic, and the major political and social upheaval of the past several years. Cheri is the former host of the weekly ABC News podcast and radio news magazine “Perspective,” and she estimates that over the past 23 years, she has informed her listeners about world events more than 68,000 times. Besides her on-air duties, Cheri is a member of the Radio Television Digital News Association and serves on the National and New York boards of SAG-AFTRA — the union representing 160,000 media professionals worldwide — and as chair of the SAG-AFTRA National Broadcast Steering Committee. Cheri and her husband, David Landis, live in Glen Ridge, NJ with their cats, Giuseppe and Pia.
At The Highlawn, guests will enjoy a sought-after dining and entertainment experience in this distinctive venue, a landmark that has unique historic significance: The Highlawn’s location once served as a strategic overlook during the Revolutionary War and later served as a site for Thomas Edison’s World War I-era research efforts. Edison, a local resident, filmed an early motion picture (“The Great Train Robbery”) in the adjacent Eagle Rock Park, which was developed a few years later in Eagle Rock Reservation by the renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted.
More information on hotel accommodations and evening programming will be available soon.
The Sugar Soirée offers an unparalleled opportunity for sponsors to demonstrate their philanthropic commitment at this event, which brings together CHI community leaders from across the country in finance, healthcare, biotech, research, the arts and technology. For more information on sponsorships, please email Pamela Weber-Leaf at pweberleaf@congentialhi.org.
