Foundation Raises Funding
The Pacific Life Foundation announced on Jan. 22 that it will provide $6.25 million in funding this year, an increase from the $6 million it gave in 2015. The foundation is the charitable giving arm of Newport Beach-based Pacific Life.
It presented its first grants of the year to local Southern California organizations on Jan. 21 at its annual grants reception at Pacific Life’s headquarters.
Nearly 170 Southern California nonprofit agencies were awarded more than $2.8 million in grants, which will fund a wide range of programs, including hunger relief, mental health and social support services for low-income families, environmental protection, and programs for people with special needs.
Among other gifts, the foundation provided a capital campaign grant of $1 million to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley to complete construction of a club on the campus of Golden West College, and $250,000 toward a $500,000 pledge to the Children’s Hospital Orange County Foundation to support its new children’s mental health center.
Back in Time to the Future
Trojan Battery Co., Gilead Sciences Inc., Union Bank and Pacific Life Foundation were among the key sponsors of the 30th anniversary AIDS Services Foundation Orange County gala on Jan. 23. The sold-out, 1920s-themed “Putting on the Ritz” event drew more than 365 guests to the Marconi Automotive Museum in Tustin. The evening raised nearly $440,000, surpassing the fundraising goal by more than $100,000.
The event was fully underwritten, so all the funds raised will go to services provided by the foundation to people living with HIV in Orange County. It featured a red-carpet arrival and cocktail hour at well-stocked open bars. Anaheim White House Restaurant catered dinner.
Making Memories on MLK Day
More than 100 Kaiser Permanente Orange County employees and their families and friends joined the staff of Grandma’s House of Hope on Jan. 16 as part of Kaiser Permanente’s MLK Day of Service.
The volunteers spent their day stocking and organizing Grandma’s donation center while honoring Martin Luther King Jr.
Grandma’s provides basic supplies and services to women and children living in extreme poverty in Orange County.
Expanding Care and Support
Children’s Hospital Orange County recently received a $100,000 gift in support of a $22 million neonatal intensive care unit expansion campaign from Ray Zadjmool and Nazy Fouladirad on behalf of Tevora, an Orange County information security consulting firm. CHOC is conducting a campaign to raise $22 million to expand its neonatal intensive care unit, and a room in the unit will be named in honor of the gift.
“We are very happy to support CHOC in the work they do for our community, our neighbors, and our kids,” said Zadjmool, Tevora’s chief executive.
The build-out will create 36 private patient rooms with amenities to allow parents and guardians to comfortably stay overnight with their critically ill babies receiving care at CHOC. The expanded unit also will feature a multipurpose family room, sibling activity room, additional office space and other enhanced amenities.
Bits & Pieces
Science@OC, an Orange County nonprofit group dedicated to strengthening science education in Orange County’s public middle schools, announced it received a $20,000 grant from Edison International, parent company of Southern California Edison. … More than 600 local teens, parents and community leaders gathered at the Orange County Sheriff’s Regional Training Academy in Tustin on Jan. 29 to kick off February’s National Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month. … FarWest Technologies in Irvine donated $5,000 to Talk About Curing Autism in honor of the two founders’ children, who both have autism.
