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"    Many Hopes founders Anthony Mulongo and Thomas Keown with Zachary Levi, Jessica Stam and Jessica Szohr; Photo: Courtesy of Brian Offidani   Jessica Stam sparkled in a Valentino gown as she arrived at the Many Hopes gala in The Altman Building in NYC. She was the night&amp;#039;s host alongside The Internship actress Jessica Szohr, and Zachary Levi, who debuts on Broadway in First Date next month. The celebrity trio and other attendees\u2014including Nicky Hilton, Sarah Sophie Flicker, and surprise guest Sofia Vergara\u2014came out to raise funds and learn more about the foundation, which supports disadvantaged girls in Kenya with education, clean water, and local business launches. Highlights of the night included live performances by R&amp;amp;amp;B songstress Leela James and pianist Chloe Flower, as well as a silent auction featuring impressive picks like a signed Taylor Swift guitar, VIP tickets to a Justin Timberlake concert, and designer accessories.    The stars eagerly talked about the importance of educating young girls, but brought the cause closer to home when remembering times a teacher influenced them in school.  Karen Elson, in a L&amp;#039;Wren Scott dress, fondly looked back on an old French teacher. &amp;quot;She just believed in me. She gave me a chance. I was a bit of an introverted, weird, kooky girl who had no friends and my French teacher saw something in me. I was a teacher&amp;#039;s pet,&amp;quot; she admitted to ELLE.com. She credited her singing career to the teacher. &amp;quot;She also gave me good songs to listen to and loved The Smiths. She got me into music!&amp;quot;  &amp;quot;I think story time has always really left an impact on me,&amp;quot; Stam said. &amp;quot;I must have been in kindergarten, grade one, grade two. I mean I&amp;#039;ve always loved story time because I think that&amp;#039;s a really great way of teaching.&amp;quot; The model elaborated on a recent trip with Many Hopes to Kenya, owing her inherent soft spot for kids to coming from a big family. &amp;quot;They have such a great business plan, they&amp;#039;re sustainable, and after visiting, I totally fell in love!&amp;quot; Szohr, dolled up in a backless KaufmanFranco dress, also looked to younger years. &amp;quot;I remember in second grade my teacher, Mrs. Turkey, was very much about going after your goals and dreams,&amp;quot; she said, smiling. &amp;quot;It was kind of weird for me because I was doing modeling at that age. But I wanted to be an actress, which was even weirder in the place where I&amp;#039;m from [a suburb in Wisconsin]\u2014everyone there went to school to be doctors or lawyers.&amp;quot; While inspiration could be found within school walls, Elson emphasized it was crucial to push beyond them. &amp;quot;We all need our pivotal people in our life who say &amp;#039;you can do it,&amp;#039; who sort of stand behind you and go &amp;#039;you might think it&amp;#039;s you against the world, but it&amp;#039;s not and I&amp;#039;m here for you,&amp;#039;&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;That&amp;#039;s what this organization is saying to kids that are hopeless.&amp;quot;  Photo: Karen Elson; Photo: Courtesy of Brian Offidani  Photo: Sofia Vergara and Many Hopes co-founder Thomas Keown; Photo: Courtesy of Brian Offidani "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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