Individual fundraisers, sponsors and teams helped raised more than $2.6 million for the 20th annual Susan G. Komen Orange County Race for the Cure held Sept. 25 in Newport Beach.
The fundraiser continues through October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
In all, the organization hopes to raise $3.1 million by Oct. 31.
Last year, the event raised $3 million.
About 75% of the funds raised go toward breast cancer awareness programs, diagnostic services for uninsured and underinsured women, and grants to local organizations and service providers. The rest of the funds go toward research.
More than 30,000 people attended the race.
Jackie Fellows of Dana Point was the top individual fundraiser. She raised $14,472. The next top individual fundraiser was Carla Cammack, a 14-year breast cancer survivor. She raised $11,725.
Cammack is one of the top lifetime fundraisers, raising nearly $200,000 in all of her years of service to the organization.
The top fundraising team was Newport Beach-based bond managers Pacific Investment Management Co., which raised $83,270. By the end of October, Pimco expects to donate $100,000 in all.
Irvine-based Local.com Corp. has donated $500,000 to schools and charities through its Spreebird daily deals program, which lets customers direct 10% of net proceeds from their purchases to a school or nonprofit of their choice.
Local.com’s Spreebird is similar to Groupon. It sends daily coupons by area to email subscribers. Spreebird is available in 14 markets, including Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange County.
More than 700 local schools and charities have benefited from the program, according to the company, which gathered the $500,000 in donations in about a year.
Irvine-based Tuttle-Click Automotive Group’s annual golf tournament, held last month, raised $50,000 for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Capistrano Valley. The after-school program is for kids ages 7 to 18.
About 144 people golfed at the El Niguel Country Club.
Sponsors included Tuttle Click Capis-trano Ford; Santa Ana-based Sukut Con-struction Inc.; general contractor Gordon L. Mountjoy & Associates Inc. of Rancho Santa Margarita; Mission Viejo-based Part-ners Bank of California; the Cvengros family; and others.
Local employees of St. Louis, Mo.-based McCarthy Building Cos. recently volunteered to make improvements to the Vet-erans First housing complex in Anaheim. Including labor and donations, the volunteer group, called The McCarthy Heart Hats of Newport Beach, donated about $20,000 to Veterans First, which provides housing and financial assistance to homeless and low-income military vets in Orange County.
The Santa Ana-based organization was founded in 1971.
The McCarthy Heart Hats hung drywall, painted, installed carpet and built an outdoor shed, among other tasks. A McCarthy employee also donated 28 new beds, and other volunteers donated sheets and blankets.
There are estimated to be 900 homeless vets in OC, according to Veterans First.
The Heart Hats have been helping military personnel and their families over the past several years by holding clothing and holiday toy drives and other events.
