A Million Ways to Make a Difference
On Jan. 27, the Laguna Beach Community Foundation announced an agreement to manage a $1.1 million endowment for the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach, the largest such agreement in the foundation’s history.
In the past five years, the foundation has distributed more than 300 charitable grants locally and nationwide. It aims to bring together the financial resources of businesses, individuals, private foundations and families to create charitable funds, administering the funds through charitable support, including grants.
Laguna Beach business leaders Mandi Dossin, partner and general manager of DGWB Advertising & Communications; Donnie Crevier, owner of Crevier Classic Cars; Laura Tarbox, president and founder of The Tarbox Group Inc.; and Thomas P. Davis, founder and principal of Davis Law, are among the foundation’s trustees and officers.
“Community foundations such as ours supply leadership and support to nonprofits that ultimately improve the lives of everyone connected to them,” said foundation Executive Director Daniel Pingaro.
“We knew [the foundation] could provide direct, one-on-one personal advice and access to us. Partnerships like this help solidify ties and strengthen the fabric of communities,” said Pam Estes, executive director of the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach.
Shaking Up Success
A sold-out room of 265 guests gathered at the Marconi Automotive Museum on Jan. 24 to celebrate AIDS Services Foundation’s annual Shaken Not Stirred gala.
Trojan Battery Co. President Jeff Elder and his wife, Karla Kjellin-Elder, chaired the event, which raised a record-setting $310,000 to be used to help people and their families living with HIV or who are impacted by the virus. Foundation services include community outreach, housing, case management, food, emergency financial assistance, children’s and family programs, transportation, mental health counseling, HIV testing, and an extensive array of HIV-prevention programs.
Trojan Battery, the Island Hotel Newport Beach, Tiffany & Co., and Morgan Stanley were among the event sponsors.
Pony Up for Education
More than 100 people gathered at Strawberry Farms Golf Club on Jan. 22 to support math education through Mind Research Institute’s sold-out Wild West Charity Bingo Night.
Proceeds from the event will support the organization’s mission to ensure that all students are mathematically equipped to solve the world’s most challenging problems.
Guests dressed in boots, chaps and cowboy hats and played 10 rounds of bingo. Between games, they competed in math challenge bingo and issued warrants to send one another to the Wild West Jail.
Drawings for donated prizes included giveaways of a flight simulator experience, a golf package, and musical theater tickets.
Event sponsors included PricewaterhouseCoopers, Comerica Bank, Pinnacle Consulting Group and Bank of America.
On a Mission
The Mission Hospital Spirit of Giving Hospital Holiday Gala, presented by Aliso Viejo-based Nolet Spirits U.S.A., surpassed previous records by raising net proceeds of about $1.4 million at the sold-out Dec. 5 event at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point.
The funds will support ongoing investment in Mission’s behavioral health, heart, imaging, Neuroscience & Spine Institute, as well as orthopedics and women’s services.
Nolet Spirits and the Nolet family served as title sponsors for the ninth straight year. Orange County Neurosurgical Associates and Lugano Diamonds also sponsored the event, among others.
The event brought Mission closer to completing its $200 million comprehensive campaign. To date, more than $194 million has been raised in efforts to improve quality of life and health in the region.
Gala chairperson Margarita Solazzo, cofounder of Capella + Solazzo Design, and her husband, Tom, principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers, were honored for making the event the most successful in Mission’s history.
Bits & Pieces
Seabreeze Management Chief Executive Lisa Dale will receive Mission Hospital Foundation’s prestigious Sister Martha Ann Fitzpatrick Vision Award. … Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc. was the local sponsor of the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation’s fourth annual Your Next Step is the Cure “New Year’s Hustle” 5K in Irvine on Jan. 24. … Frank Talarico Jr., president and chief executive of Goodwill of Orange County, was appointed chairman of the Council of California Goodwill Industries, the largest association of Goodwill organizations in the country, effective Jan. 1.
