HughE Dillon: Maria Bello on the Main Line

Actress Maria Bello was in town over the weekend. On Saturday, she made an appearance at the Human Rights Campaign Gala at the Ritz-Carlton. On Monday evening, the Villanova graduate co-hosted a fundraiser for her charity We Advance at the home of Gail Slogoff, founder of beauty blog BeBlushing.com, in Merion. We Advance is a charity that empowers the women of Haiti. Maria tells me that her friends didn’t feel that the relief money was reaching the poorest of neighborhoods, so they formed their own charitable foundation. A native of Norristown, Maria grew up with two brothers, a sister Lisa (left), dad Joe Bello (second from right), and mom Kathy (right). She has starred in such movies as Coyote Ugly and The Company of Men, and just finished a TV show called Prime Suspect, which was canceled even though she received rave reviews. No grass will be growing under her feet, as next season she’ll be seen in the new Kiefer Sutherland TV show called Touch, airing on Fox.

Below: Co-founder and activist Barbara Guillaume (left), says: “If we can change the worst of Haiti, we can change all of Haiti.” She entertained the crowd with traditional Haitian songs, as David James accompanied her on the drum.

Below: Nora Resnick and Gail Slogoff (the party took place at her home).

Below: Jamie Amen, Maura Keech, and Chrissy McCabe. Jamie and Maura both went to Archbishop Carroll with Maria. They tell me she was very charitable when she was in school. Upon graduation she gifted her uniform to Maura, who was then a freshman.

Below: Looking stylish, Juliet DeRose and celebrity stylist Jen Abrams came out to support their friend Maria.

Below: Dana Zucker, Richard and Wendy Cohen, and Meredith Trotter.

Below: Boris Kaplan and Luba Patlakh.

Below: Maria’s brother, Chris Bello, with childhood friend Christine Robins. Christine told me that during the summer months, she and Maria worked at the Bello’s Sea Isle restaurant called the Charcoal Pit.

The event was sponsored by Clarke & Cohen and Home Grown. Other event elements included a silent auction, modeling of spring fashions from Neiman Marcus, and a pop-up skincare boutique in the family room with Fresh Cosmetics specialists. There was also a live auction where Bello auctioned off a trip to the Cape Cod set of Grown Ups 2, a comedy she stars in with Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider and David Spade. After fierce bidding, it was won by these sisters (below) Christina Ludin, Bernadette Nassib and Joanne Hopkins, who get to take five other people on the trip with them this summer.

Below: Mighty Macs director Tim Chambers, with friends Vince and Kali Curran. Chambers is very happy with the sales of the Might Macs DVD, which was released last month.