The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana received an anonymous gift of $2 million. The donation will be the basis for a new endowment fund that will support the costs of developing world-class exhibitions. In May, Bowers will premiere the North American tour of the Terra Cotta Warriors from Xian, China.
Rocker Gwen Stefani donated $218,000 to Orangewood Children’s Foundation and the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. The funds were raised by online auctions of VIP Experience packages consisting of front row seats and backstage meetings during Stefani’s Sweet Escape tour. Stefani, a native of Anaheim, met with Cal Winslow and Gene Howard of Orangewood before her OC stop on the tour. The funds were split equally among Orangewood and CHOC.
Laguna College of Art & Design raised $96,000 to benefit student programs and scholarships at the 18th annual Collector’s Choice Fine Art Event and Exhibition. Local artists John Barber, John Eagle, Regina Jacobson, Louis Longi and Andrew Myers attended and donated 110 pieces to the live auction. The evening featured a speech by the college’s Student Master of Ceremonies Mike Tauber.
Teams of Toshiba and Capstone Studios Inc. employees raised $32,000 at the fourth annual Ocean Institute Build a Boat challenge. Funds were raised for the preservation of the institute’s tall ships Pilgrim and Spirit of Dana Point. Teams had four hours to design and build a boat. All boats were raced at Baby Beach in Dana Point.
Fieldstone Communities Inc. in Newport Beach was the top fund-raising corporate team with $30,000 raised at the 2007 MS Walk held at the University of California, Irvine. The donations came from Fieldstone employees and their friends and family, as well as matching donations from the Fieldstone Foundation. The MS Society said Fieldstone’s team of 105 walkers was one of the largest among more than 200 teams.
Irvine-based Kia Motors America Inc. donated a 2007 Sedona minivan and 2007 Sorento SUV to the Irvine Police Department and OC Fire Authority. Irvine Chief of Police David Maggard Jr. and OCFA Fire Chief Chip Prather were present at the Kia corporate headquarters ceremony to accept the vehicles. The Irvine Police will use the Sedona as a recruiting vehicle, and the Fire Authority will paint the Sorento red and use it to promote fire awareness.
Center for Hope and Healing received a $2,500 donation from Ingram Micro Inc. in Santa Ana. Center for Hope and Healing provides long-term, compassionate and affordable mental health counseling to adults, children and families. These groups struggle to overcome recurring patterns of abuse and neglect.
Michelle Austin, a member of Tustin’s St. Paul Episcopal Church, raised $4,000 and donated a 1996 Honda Civic to a single-mother Hurricane Katrina survivor. The car, valued at $5,000, was in need of maintenance. The church teamed up with member and local Santa Ana Jiffy Lube store owner John Zarrabi to coordinate efforts with several businesses to provide discounted repair services. Volunteers from the church worked on the car for more than six months to restore the vehicle, providing an additional $2,935 worth of maintenance.
West Marine in Newport Beach donated $2,500 from store sales to support the First Team Real Estate Invitational Regatta for the Hoag Cup. The Regatta combines efforts by First Team Real Estate, Hoag Hospital Foundation, Newport Harbor Yacht Club and Balboa Yacht Club to bring sailboat racing to the coast of Newport Beach. The First Team Regatta benefits the Hoag Heart and Vascular Institute and raised a total of more than $400,000.
