A Table for All
The Illumination Foundation held its sixth annual OC Chef’s Table at the Disneyland Resort on March 3, raising more than $1.1 million dollars to help break the cycle of homelessness. The funds will help secure recuperative care, emergency housing and permanent housing for homeless families, children and individuals.
The black-tie event featured Southern California’s top chefs coming together to serve unique tableside dishes for more than 400 guests. Participants included celebrity chef Jet Tila, Disneyland Resort’s host chef Andrew Sutton, The Farmhouse’s Rich Mead, Disneyland Club 33’s Clint Chin and Mastro’s chefs Magellan Moore and Stephen LaFountain.
The event also honored Bill Taormina, co-founder, Clean City; Dan Young, president and founder, Camino Enterprises; Todd Ament, president and chief executive, Anaheim Chamber of Commerce; and Harry Sidhu, mayor of Anaheim, with the 2019 Community Champion award. Over a period of just three weeks in December, the four leaders worked together to create a state-of-the-art temporary shelter protecting the homeless from the unrelenting rain and cold temperatures.
First in Line
The Disneyland Resort has given a $5 million grant to the newly revitalized Orange County Housing Trust to support housing projects in Anaheim. NeighborWorks Orange County and Orange County Business Council retooled OCHT, originally established in January 2010, as a financing vehicle for grantors, foundations and corporations to leverage public and private funding to bring future permanent supportive and affordable housing projects in Orange County across the finish line.
The grant is the first leadership-level commitment received by OCHT. The money will go toward advancing the Manchester Project, a 102-unit affordable housing development planned for Anaheim, into its final phase of funding and groundbreaking in 2020.
“Communities need permanent supportive housing to help address homelessness and the housing affordability challenges impacting nearly every city throughout California,” said Josh D’Amaro, president, Disneyland Resort.
“We are proud to support the Orange County Housing Trust with a $5 million grant that will be focused on Anaheim-based projects and look forward to the Trust’s role in addressing this need in our community.”
Love Always Grows
Waymakers hosted nearly 450 wine lovers, foodies and humanitarians to help raise more than $125,000 to benefit the Waymakers’ Huntington Beach Youth Shelter, a safe haven for homeless, runaway, abused and at-risk youth, during its ninth annual “Love Grows by Giving” wine tasting fundraiser. The event, held at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa on February 22, featured wine tastings, beer samplings, live music and food tastings from local fine dining restaurants.
Featured participants included Jackson Family Wines, Duckhorn, Main Street Wine Co., Cambalache Grill, Watertable at Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach and Duke’s Huntington Beach. The event also offered live and silent auctions to raise funds for the Huntington Beach Youth Shelter.
Event sponsors included the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort & Spa, Angels Baseball, The Resort at Pelican Hill, Speedo USA, Chevron, AES Huntington Beach and NuVision Federal Credit Union, as well as individual sponsors.
Disco Fever
More than 400 guests found themselves transported to the disco era’s heyday for Pacific Symphony’s 40th Anniversary Gala on March 2 at Hotel Irvine. The sold-out event raised more than $1.5 million for Pacific Symphony’s array of music and education programs.
Time-traveling back to 1978, the year the orchestra was founded, gala-goers got into the festive spirit and dressed in fashionable disco evening attire for the splashy extravaganza.
Guests walked the red carpet into the ballroom, which was transformed into Studio 78, based on New York’s famed Studio 54. Once past the velvet rope, guests were greeted by aerialists and a champagne tower. An ABBA tribute band got guests in a dancing disco mood.
The event included an elegant dinner, a performance by Pacific Symphony musicians, a silent and live auction.
Bits & Pieces
Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols and his wife, Deidre Pujols, vice president, Pujols Family Foundation, were honored at the UN Women for Peace Association’s Annual Awards Luncheon with the Humanitarian Award for their efforts to combat human trafficking through their organization Strike Out Slavery. … YMCA of Orange County received a $20,000 grant from the Kroger Foundation to purchase healthy snacks for children in YMCA After School Care. … The Tiffany & Co. Foundation committed $25,000 to the Ocean Institute’s annual Girls in Ocean Science Conference, a nationally recognized program providing middle and high school students with the opportunity to learn from accomplished female scientists.
