Artistic Garden
The Bowers Museum hosted a sold-out black-tie gala on Nov. 16 to celebrate the opening of The Eternal Garden: Titanium Art exhibit by Aka Chen, which remains on display through April 13. The event welcomed more than 200 luminaries from the arts, philanthropy and business communities, raising $500,000 for the museum’s educational program.
Major gala sponsors included AUO Corporation, Bvlgari, East West Bank, International Leadership Foundation, Louis Vuitton, MDSun Skin Care, Mikimoto, South Coast Plaza, Tiffany & Co., Valentino, Van Cleef & Arpels and Yu Cake. East West Bank, the International Leadership Foundation and Van Cleef & Arpels were among the table sponsors.
The evening began with a cocktail reception, highlighted by a bar hosted by Mikimoto and featuring TwoTwoTea and passed hors d’oeuvres. Guests were treated to a cello performance by students from OC Music & Dance. Highlights of the evening included the live auction of a rare Chen brooch, donated by the artist, musical performances by Katherine Cash, violinist, Gloria Traullé, cellist, and Dr. Seán O’Harrow, president, Bowers Museum, on the viola. The night concluded with dancing to a 12-piece band.
Building the Neighborhood
Bank of America is awarding $400,000 in grants to two Orange County-area nonprofits— Veterans Legal Institute (VLI) and Orangewood Foundation—as part of its Neighborhood Builders program. Each organization will receive $200,000 over two years, along with comprehensive leadership training for their executive directors and emerging leaders, as well as access to a national nonprofit peer network.
“This year, we’re excited to include Orangewood Foundation and Veterans Legal Institute as Neighborhood Builders,” said Allen Staff, president of Bank of America Orange County. “These two nonprofits are filling a void in the Orange County community, supporting two populations often overlooked – veterans and transitional-aged youth.”
VLI will apply its Neighborhood Builders grant to expand its paid internship program, increasing the number of stipends for college and high school interns. The additional support will free up attorneys and other professional staff to take on more clients and cases, allowing VLI to help additional service members.
“This funding will create more space to prevent veteran homelessness and reduce veteran suicide by giving our deserving heroes a hand up,” said Antoinette Naddour, VLI’s co-founder and executive director.
Orangewood Foundation will use the Neighborhood Builders grant to expand its services to an additional 250 youth annually, providing a holistic approach to housing, workforce development and wraparound services to support them as they work toward long-term independence.
“We are so grateful to have been selected to receive this generous and prestigious grant from our long-time partner, Bank of America,” said Chris Simonsen, CEO, Orangewood Foundation. “It comes at a time when the number of young people we are serving is increasing dramatically and their issues and challenges are more complex.”
Homerun of the Holiday Season
The Angels Baseball Foundation hosted its 18th annual Kids Holiday Party at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Dec. 17. The event served 350 children and their families in partnership with local non-profits including Anaheim Family YMCA, Project Access, Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast, KidWorks, Families Forward, OC Rescue Mission, Easterseals Southern California, Orangewood Foundation and Olive Crest.
Children enjoyed carnival games, craft activities, dinner and dessert, as well as a special showing of Angels in the Outfield on the stadium’s outfield grass. Each child received pajamas, Angels hats, candy canes, promotional items and a new toy from Santa and his Strike Force Elves. Other highlights included arts and crafts stations, cookie decorating, face painting, imitation snow and photo opportunities. The event also featured a holiday-themed DJ and train rides along the outfield warning track.
Mickey Moniak, Angels outfielder, Mark Gubicza, broadcaster, and Dennis Kuhl, Angels chairman, were also on hand to meet fans and spread holiday cheer.
Bits & Pieces
In November, Harvesters presented its seventh annual Innovative Service Award in collaboration with City National Bank, granting $49,000 to Families Forward, St. Justin Martyr, Latino Health Access and Boys and Girls Club of Garden Grove, to support the implementation, reimplementation (post COVID-19) or enhancement of client-choice food distribution model …
Orange County Rescue Mission marked its 2024 season with record Turkey Trot participation that drew 1,600 participants and helped fund 30,000 meals, the highest attendance ever at its Miracle at the Mission event with more than 200 alumni and a festive New Year’s Eve celebration for homeless called Times Square in Tustin, which offered Village of Hope residents a safe, sober and festive environment to welcome the new year … Through its Feed Good, Do Good Broadway initiative, Segerstrom Center for the Arts invites theatergoers to donate items like canned food, toys, school supplies and hygiene products to local nonprofits throughout its 2024-2025 Broadway season with the next donation drive scheduled from Feb. 1-25 during the play Kimberly Akimbo.
Correction: In the Jan. 6 philanthropy column, Western Digital was incorrectly listed as a sponsor of Second Harvest’s No Lunch, Lunch event, while the Disneyland Resort, Shelli Herman and Associates and Sunterra/Project Food Box were omitted as sponsors. The Business Journal regrets the error.
