As the final touches are made on the Phoenix Heart Ball’s 50th anniversary gala, we look back on the organization’s many accomplishments and the women behind the ball - from then to now.

As one of the oldest and most sophisticated social events of the season, the Phoenix Heart Ball lends a voice to heart disease by raising money and awareness for vital community programs, professional education and research that benefits the American Heart Association. It started with Peggy Goldwater, wife of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater, at the Jerry Lewis Koko Theater Restaurant in 1959. Her pledge to fundraise, coordinate and host the most lavish soiree at that time held true, raising $10,000 in donations and setting a new standard for future committees to surpass.

Today, 50 years later, the Phoenix Heart Ball has grown to be one of the most anticipated galas benefitting the nonprofit American Heart Association. Over the past five decades, the ball has wined and dined over 25,000 guests and raised more than $27 million. Its committee members, generous donors and A-list entertainers, (which have included Sammy Davis Jr., Florence Henderson, Engelbert Humperdinck, Bob Hope, Nat King Cole and Josh Groban) help to pull together this dazzling evening, complete with heart-healthy dinners, dancing and designer gowns, all in the Valley’s most dramatically dressed ballrooms.

Behind the scenes, the money collected from the Phoenix Heart Ball goes to help advance education and training in areas of CPR, pacemakers, bypass surgery, heart transplants, echocardiograms, coronary arteriography, heart-lung machines, heart transplants and anti-rejection therapy drugs. Statistically, a heart attack happens every 20 seconds, and knowledge saves lives.

This year, the Heart Ball committee will introduce two new initiatives: one to educate 7th graders on CPR and the second, to renovate the Halle Heart Center into a full children’s museum. After last year’s $2 million fundraising ball, this year’s committee wants to surpass that number while also focusing on funding cardiovascular research and educational programs in Arizona and beyond. In doing so, this year’s Phoenix Heart Ball, at The Phoenician Resort, will be the country’s most successful fundraising gala for the American Heart Association.

Here, we speak with previous Heart Ball chairs about their commitment to making a difference, the year’s biggest challenges and their most rewarding benefits.