February 11, 1993 - May 9, 2012
On May 9th, 2012, the world lost Emily Benatar to bacterial meningitis*. Her life is a reminder to live every moment fully with a sense of humor and to be kind to one another.
This website is a place for those who are missing Emily to be able to hear her voice and see her being her funny self, and see some of the many amazing things she created. It's also a place to share the Honoring Emily projects we do each year.
*Meningococcal disease is a bacterial infection that can affect the blood (sepsis) or the lining of the brain and spinal cord (bacterial meningitis).
The theme of our 2023 Honoring Emily with Art event was Be Bold. The idea for this theme came to Lisa when she was listening to an interview with a food critic who mentioned that she likes to be bold when ordering food off of a restaurant menu, and Lisa thought: That's something Emily would do. Emily put herself out there practically on a daily basis, doing things that weren't always the most comfortable or easy but that led to something fun, different, or good in some other way. After she passed away we received cards, letters and messages, many from people who shared how Emily had made them feel comfortable by being the one to say Hi! and by smiling, coming over to talk, asking them about their day.
