Compiled by Kelly M. Ryan
Fullerton-based Beckman Coulter Inc. gave $125,000 to the Youth Science Fellowship Program and $15,000 to the American Cancer Society’s Daffodil Days campaign. The fellowship program offers promising high school science students the chance to work alongside cancer researchers at the University of California, Irvine. Daffodil Days allows the cancer society to anonymously deliver daffodils to cancer patients throughout the county.
The charity arm of Irvine-based Golden State Foods Corp. sponsored the first annual Good News for Kids gala, raising $200,000 for Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County, Freedom Writers Foundation, Orangewood Children’s Foundation and New Vista School.
The 2007 Wild for a Cure Dream gala raised $2.3 million. Proceeds go to support research to find a cure for diabetes. Of all donated money, $1.3 million went to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Orange County chapter to develop an artificial pancreas. The evening’s festivities featured a silent auction and exclusive wines donated from private cellars.
Mission San Juan Capistrano received $270,000 from the Thomas J. and Erma Jean Tracy Foundation. The money, given in memory of auto parts maker Tom Tracy, will be used for the conservation of the mission’s historic Serra Chapel. The chapel was built shortly after the mission’s founding in 1776.
University of California, Irvine, scientists were given $7.9 million by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Projects headed by Doug Wallace, Hans Keirstead and Peter Donovan were selected for research grants. The researchers are studying stem cells and ways to cure diseases and regenerate parts of the body. Wallace was awarded $2.5 million to investigate the preparation of human embryonic stem cells for use in regenerative medicine. Keirstead received $2.4 million to create a renewable source of spinal cord tissue cells to help those with spinal cord injuries. Donovan was given $2.5 million to learn how to make specialized cell types for cell-based treatments and to develop drugs to treat diseases.
Foundation of Hope hosted its 2007 Evening of Hope gala, raising $125,000 to be shared with Lily of the Valley Orphanage. At the gala, guests had the chance to bid on a large selection of live and silent auction items. Children from the Lily of the Valley orphanage sang songs for guests.
The Robert and Helga Pralle Family Foundation committed $100,000 to start an endowment fund for the Children’s Hospital of Orange County. The fund will support the only American Diabetes Association-certified pediatric diabetes program in Orange County. The program treats 94% of the pediatric diabetes patients in the county.
Habitat for Humanity received a donation of several tools from W.W. Grainger Inc. in Santa Ana. The tools were valued at $11,000. Habitat for Humanity of Orange County typically spends $18,000 to $20,000 a year on tools.
Cypress-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. gave $8,000 to support the University of Southern California’s Swim With Mike fund-raising event. Swim With Mike donations benefit the Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship Fund to provide tuition and financial assistance to challenged student athletes.
The Orange County chapter of Meeting Professionals International gave $3,000 to Working Wardrobes in Fountain Valley. Working Wardrobes is a nonprofit group that helps men and women re-enter the workforce through wardrobe and career development.
