Tiffany and David Ortiz at the David Ortiz Children’s Fund Gala

David Ortiz, John Henry and Robert Kraft at the David Ortiz Children’s Fund Gala

Nelva Palaez and Ming Tsai at the David Ortiz Children’s Fund Gala

Lenny Clarke and Mayor Marty Walsh at the David Ortiz Children’s Fund Gala

If there’s a more beloved man in Boston than Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, we don’t know him, and the turnout at the Park Plaza for the David Ortiz Children’s Fund Gala was proof positive.

A benefit for Big Papi’s charity to provide heart surgery for kids in the Dominican Republic and New England, the evening drew a fantastically eclectic crowd that included his stunning wife, Tiffany, and children Alex, Jessica and D’Angelo, Tiffany’s sister and niece, Kerri and Bailey Miller (visiting from Wisconsin), team owners John and Linda Henry, teammates Clay Buchholz, Dustin Pedroia and Koji Uehara, Patriot Dion Lewis, lovable funnyman Lenny Clarke, radio blabbermouth Matt Siegel, baseball scribbler Peter Abraham, design cutie Jimmy Guzman, toothsome TV pair Jenny Johnson and Billy Costa, celebrity chef Ming Tsai, rainmaker Peter Riddle, pediatric cardiologist Oscar Benavidez, restaurateur extraordinaire Nick Varano, stunning blond jewelry designer April Soderstrom and her main squeeze, Ben Rawitz, and Patriots owner Bob Kraft, who ponied up a cool $100K for the cause.

A silent auction, along with a giant inflatable heart, dominated the cocktail hour, after which the doors to the ballroom opened for a dinner, speeches and merry-making. The evening’s choicest remark: “I have a 7-year-old, which means that I won’t get a decent night’s sleep for at least the next 11 years.”