Let’s Be Frank About Cancer
City of Hope’s fifth annual Let’s Be Frank About Cancer gala on March 23 raised about $1.2 million to support life-saving cancer programs, bringing the event’s five-year fundraising total to more than $7.2 million. Over 600 Orange County cancer survivors, community leaders, and physicians attended the event at the Hotel Irvine.
The gala honored Emile Haddad, chairman and chief executive at FivePoint, with the Frank Di Bella Humanitarian Award and Dr. Hazem Chehabi with the Champion for Hope Award.
The black-tie affair also recognized its founder and cancer survivor philanthropist Frank Di Bella, who served as gala chairman along with co-chairwoman Donna Porter, president of Premier Framing and 2018 honoree.
The funds will support research by oncologist Dr. Sumanta Pal, co-director of the kidney cancer program at City of Hope.
“I am so honored that so many people came to support such an amazing doctor, my friend Dr. Pal,” Di Bella said. “Thanks to the help of these contributions from private individuals and local businesses, City of Hope and Dr. Pal can continue to provide the ultimate care, leading-edge research and most importantly, hope, to patients like me. And now, with plans to bring City of Hope to Orange County, even more local lives will be impacted. I cannot wait to have this resource in our neighborhood.”
Milan Panic, founder of ICN Biomedicals and MP Biomedicals, and Paul Musco, founder of Gemini Industries Inc., and his wife, Marybelle, were the evening’s Platinum Sponsors. Other key sponsors included FivePoint and Mobilite LLC.
Fighting for the Kids
Marconi Foundation for Kids hosted its 21st annual Fight Night fundraiser on March 15 at the Marconi Museum. Over 400 guests attended the event, which raised more than $400,000. This year, MFK split the net proceeds from the night with CHOC Children’s in support of its ambitious pediatric mental health initiative.
“We are all touched by mental illness in one way or another and that’s why we want to be a part of the conversation de-stigmatizing mental health,” said Bo Marconi, chief executive, Marconi Foundation for Kids.
Sponsors included Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Winston Crown Jewelers, Niagara water, The Cyclist, and Porsche Irvine.
Aspirational Giving for Aspiring Artists
The annual Orange County School of the Arts gala on March 16, themed “Let’s Get Loud,” netted more than $1.3 million to support its programs. The event drew more than 600 guests, who came together to enjoy an original show involving 200 students. The performance featured several acts, including a student rapping a solo from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “In the Heights” musical, and ballet folklórico dancers.
The event also included a pre-show dinner and post-show silent and live auctions, as well as Fund-A-Dream.
Longtime OCSA supporter Dr. Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic adviser at Allianz, provided a matching challenge gift, this time of $360,000, inspiring generosity from the attendees totaling nearly $1 million. Funds raised during this portion of the event will support the Artist Scholar Sponsorship Program, which provides financial assistance to more than 200 economically disadvantaged families each year.
“I am honored and delighted to expand my support for OCSA’s programs to provide greater opportunities for aspiring artist scholars, including by helping to overcome economic barriers that would otherwise make such transformational education hard to access,” said El-Erian.
A Spot at the Table
Table for Ten held its 13th annual culinary spectacular for a sold-out crowd of 320 guests at Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort & Spa in Dana Point on March 3. The event collected about $340,000. The proceeds benefit The Teen Project, which provides teens aging out of the foster care system the resources and support of an intact family in order to allow them to successfully transition to adulthood.
Table for Ten guests enjoyed a six-course tableside meal with wine pairings. Participating restaurants included Cannery Seafood of the Pacific, Dublin 4 Gastropub, Mah Jong Restaurant, Nirvana Grille, Oceans and Earth, Orange Hill Restaurant, Prego Mediterranean, StillWater Spirits & Sounds and True Food Kitchen.
Among the 43 participating chefs were celebrity Chef Pascal Olhats of Café Jardin.
Honorary sponsors included Legacy Pharmaceuticals International, Pacifica Hotels and Callahan & Blaine.
Bits & Pieces
The Festival of Arts’ FOA Foundation awarded $100,000 total in art grants for 2019 to 23 arts-related nonprofits in the Laguna Beach community, including Art 4 Kids, LagunaTunes and the Laguna Beach High School art department … Human Options, an Irvine-based nonprofit dedicated to ending the cycle of relationship violence, received a $10,000 grant from Pacific Life Foundation to support Human Options’ Second Step transitional housing program for domestic violence survivors and their children … Hugh Hewitt, author, lawyer, tenured university law professor, columnist, and nationally known public affairs and policy commentator, will become president and chief executive at the Richard Nixon Foundation on July 1, succeeding William H. Baribault.
