Orange County United Way is set to honor five “Hispanic Influentials” at its Feb. 11 dinner ceremony in Irvine benefiting Somos Familia, a program for helping Hispanic communities. Honorees are: Frank Garcia, founder and owner of Casa Garcia Restaurant in Anaheim, who feeds some 20,000 homeless people a year; Max Madrid, director of gang prevention for Santa Ana’s Community Service Programs Inc.; Dr. Kenneth D. Yglesias, chancellor of Coast Community College District; Elena Rojas, chief executive of Santa Ana’s Protrans Inc., who formed the Federacion Venezolana de Sofbol, a nonprofit that brings disadvantaged athletes from Latin America to study in the U.S.; and Manuel Esqueda, founder of the Gemini Club who has raised scholarship money for Hispanic students.
The 13th annual Komen Orange County Race for the Cure held at Fashion Island in Newport Beach raised more than $1.5 million to fight breast cancer. Hosted by the OC affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, the race featured 11,675 participants.
The Children and Families Commission of Orange County and HomeAid Orange County sponsored Project Playhouse 2004, which raised more than $415,000 to benefit Orange County homeless families.
Providence Speech and Hearing Center’s The Magic of the Movies event raised $160,000 to provide diagnostic and treatment services for people with speech, language and hearing disorders. The center is affiliated with Children’s Hospital of Orange County and St. Joseph’s Hospital, both in Orange.
H. Lawrence “Larry” Webb, chief executive of Newport Beach-based John Laing Homes, part of WL Homes LLC, was named top winner of the National Lifetime Public Service Award, the largest philanthropic honor within the homebuilding industry. Webb donated his $150,000 prize to three local groups: HomeAid America, Interval House and Sage Hill High School in Newport Beach.
Homeowners at five Lennar Corp. housing developments donated more than $100,000 to HomeAid through the Aliso Viejo-based Lennar Charitable Housing Foundation. The funds are set to help Tender Life Shelter, which serves pregnant women and recent mothers who are temporarily homeless.
San Clemente-based Get Involved for Mental Health raised more than $40,000 at its fifth annual fund-raiser, A Roaring Good Time fashion show. Proceeds are set to go toward building and running a vocational rehabilitation facility for those who suffer from mental illness. In addition, 100 holiday gifts were given to those who have no family support, and two scholarships totaling $1,500 were given to two local students.
Child Share, a church-based foster care network for abused and neglected children, received $30,000 from the Seventh Annual Greater Alarm Charity Golf Classic sponsored by Irvine-based Greater Alarm Co.
Art & Creativity for Healing Inc. in Laguna Niguel raised $15,000 at its third annual Ladies Night Out live auction. Proceeds go toward free fine arts classes and workshops for children, teens and adults suffering from abuse, illness, grief and stress.
Six area Mazda dealers donated $10,700 to the American Heart Association as part of a campaign based on vehicle sales. The dealerships are: Anaheim Mazda, Browning Mazda in Cerritos, Heritage Mazda of Huntington Beach, Heritage Mazda-Tustin, Irvine Mazda and Phillips Mazda in Laguna Hills.
Downey Savings and Loan Association gave a $5,000 grant to the Affordable Housing Clearinghouse.
Orange County’s Credit Union and its associates gave $33,047 to community groups during 2004.
Irvine-based Ernst & Young Orange County Alumni Association’s celebrity chefs took over the grills at Benihanas in Newport Beach for a fund-raiser. More than $4,000 was collected for Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. All proceeds went to OC and the Inland Empire.
The Athletic Club for Women of Newport Beach helped to raise more than $1,300 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation by donating a percentage of gross profits and through individual donations.
The Orange County Marathon presented by PacifiCare of California raised close to $300,000 for 10 OC children’s charities. The marathon featured 9,900 runners from 10 countries.
