Last night I was fortunate enough to attend the 4th annual Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) benefit dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria here in New York. It was a packed house with more than 800 in attendance. The speakers and the atmosphere (not to mention the food) were amazing!

The lineup for speakers included Ken Griffey, Jr., Mark Messier, Rudy Giuliani, Greg Case of Aon Corporation, Marice Greenberg of C.V Starr and David Brinkman of Aon Benfield. The sports stars were there to speak on behalf of the charitable organizations with which they are associated (The Boys & Girls Club of America for Griffey and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation for Messier).

The 2010 dinner honoree was Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, who applauded the IICF and all companies within the insurance industry for donating so much time, effort and money to great causes. Guiliani kept the crowd in stitches with sports jabs at Griffey and Messier and NYC borough trash talk. But he also thanked the industry for its generosity.

“The insurance industry is an enormous part of the city,” Guiliani said. “The fact that you want to reach out and help so many people is what America is about.”

Last night’s event raised $1.1 million for charity from the more than 130 major insurance companies that support IICF. A great night for a good cause.