Noi Chudnoff, philanthropist and owner of the popular 14th Street shop Go Mama Go! died Tuesday morning from a brain hemmorage caused by a fall, according to a report in the Washington Blade.
The well loved benefactor was a familiar presence at performances of Ganymede Arts (where she was Board Chairwoman). “We are Ganymede Arts because of her. She was the first person to really believe in the company and she gave her whole heart to make it happen,” Ganymede’s Artistic Director Jeffrey Johnson said. “She was just as dedicated to us as she was to her store, and her generosity in time, energy, passion, and joy that she brought has laid the cornerstone of how we ‘seize the day.'”
In addition to her work with Ganymede, Chudnoff was a donor to a number of GLBT charities and organizations, including the Whitman-Walker Clinic’s Lesbian Services Program, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Victory Fund.
Chudnoff was born and raised in Bangkok and moved to the United States at a young age. She opened Go Mama Go! as a stand at Eastern Market in 2000 and moved to 14th Street the following summer.
She is survived by her husband Jonathan of Silver Spring, Md. and her son Nissim of New Mexico. More information about a community memorial service tentatively planned for Saturday, Nov. 10, will be posted on www.ganymedearts.org, which also has a remembrance page.
Thank you so much for posting this.
The Community Memorial will be Saturday at Source Theatre at 2PM.
She meant a lot to many people and organizations in our community and she is painfully missed!
Jeffrey