Hundreds of guests dressed head to toe in white will pack Blue Martini at Pointe Orlando on Friday, Aug. 21, for a fundraiser aimed at helping people living with paralysis afford the specialized therapy their insurance often won't cover. The annual White Party, hosted by Guys With Ties Philanthropy, kicks off at 8 p.m. with proceeds benefiting NextStep Orlando, a community-based nonprofit that helps people living with paralysis access recovery programs and interventions.
According to WESH, the event will feature complimentary cocktails and appetizers, a silent auction, and live music, drawing an expected crowd of hundreds to the Pointe Orlando venue. Guys With Ties Philanthropy Chairman Ryan Rapolti and Vice President Dereck Williams previewed the event with the station, walking through what guests can expect at this year's all-white affair. Tickets remain on sale ahead of Friday's party, per the station's report.
A Local Fundraising Tradition With a Rotating Cause
Guys With Ties Philanthropy was founded in Orlando back in 2005 by eight young male professionals looking to raise money for local charities through social events, and the group has since donated more than $200,000 to Central Florida nonprofits, according to the organization's own background materials. The White Party itself rotates its beneficiary each summer — previous editions have supported Give Kids the World Village in 2025, Runway to Hope in 2024, and Second Harvest Food Bank in 2023, according to Gotta Go Orlando.
This year's iteration is presented by Gold Sponsors Lift 365 Fitness and X-Wavetech, with Tito's Handmade Vodka serving as drink sponsor and local group Audio Exchange providing the live music, according to the event listing on Eventbrite. Organizers expect more than 500 guests to turn out for the cause.
Why NextStep Orlando Exists
NextStep Orlando was founded in 2009 by Liza Perla-Riedel after her daughter, Amanda Perla, suffered a C6/C7 spinal cord injury in a 2007 car crash during her senior year at Lake Mary High School. Amanda needed specialized physical therapy that standard medical insurance wouldn't cover, a gap that pushed her mother to build the Altamonte Springs facility from scratch, according to background materials published by NextStep Orlando.
The facility has since grown into Florida's only affiliate partner in the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation's NeuroRecovery Network Community Fitness & Wellness program, according to the United Spinal Association. Over more than 15 years of operation, the nonprofit has provided over 50,000 hours of activity-based recovery therapy to more than 470 individuals living with paralysis, per data compiled by Cause IQ.
The Insurance Gap Driving the Need
The financial pressure behind NextStep's mission is steep. Health insurance coverage for spinal cord injury patients averages just 36 days of inpatient rehabilitation, according to reporting published on NextStep Orlando's own site, leaving families to face between $220,000 and $775,000 in average first-year expenses out of pocket.
That squeeze reflects a broader national shift. Average stays in acute rehabilitation for spinal cord injuries have fallen from 98 days in the 1970s to just 16 days in 2022, according to data from the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center estimated 18,421 new traumatic spinal cord injuries occur annually in the U.S. as of 2025, with motor vehicle crashes remaining the leading cause and males accounting for roughly 78% of cases. An estimated 5.4 million people nationwide live with some form of paralysis, according to Reeve Foundation population data.
Against that backdrop, community fundraisers like Friday's White Party function as a critical bridge for families who exhaust insurance coverage long before their recovery is complete. For NextStep Orlando, events tied to Central Florida's nightlife and professional networks have become part of how the nonprofit sustains programs that traditional medical systems don't fully fund.
