The head of Santa Ana-based Think Together, which offers after-school and summer educational programs, recently got a shout-out from Irvine Company Chairman Donald Bren.
When Forbes magazine asked Bren for an example of a person or school that was doing a good job of improving or reforming education, he responded: “In my opinion, the person doing the best job improving K-12 education in California is Randy Barth, President and CEO of Think Together in Santa Ana, Calif. He is the most dedicated and innovative professional in K-12 tutoring and mentoring education in California.”
Bren—who tops the Business Journal’s list of wealthiest, and placed 26th on the recent Forbes 400 national ranking—has been a regular donor to the organization.
Think Together’s after-school programs have academic underpinnings and serve schools throughout Southern California. It has a big presence in the Santa Ana Unified School District, which has about 50,000 students.
Think Together’s income comes from state and federal grants and philanthropic donations.
In the past five years, the organization has grown its revenue from around $3 million a year to more than $60 million a year.
Tustin-based Miracles for Kids, which provides assistance to low-income families with children at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, raised $700,000 at its 11th annual gala, themed “Miracles in Manhattan,” held at the St. Regis Monarch Beach in Dana Point earlier this month.
More than 570 attended.
Some of the attendees: Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and his wife, Rhonda; Irvine-based Golden State Foods Corp. Chief Executive Mark Wetterau and his wife, Ginny; volunteer Noah Wehner, a youth with leukemia; Tom Swanecamp, Miracles for Kids board member and president of Redrock Security & Cabling Inc.; San Juan Capistrano-based Hobie Designs Inc. President Jeff Alter and his wife, Laurie; Dr. Ivan Kirov of CHOC; Troy Medley, chief executive of Newport Beach-based Personalcare Physicians; Javier Sosa, owner of Javier’s restaurants; and Johnny So, general manager of the St. Regis Monarch Beach.
Celebrities gathered at a private villa in Laguna Beach to raise $900,000 for Oceana, a Washington, D.C.-based ocean conservation nonprofit.
Actors Angela Kinsey (The Office) and Ted Danson hosted the event. Other celebs in attendance included husband and wife actors Josh Brolin and Diane Lane; Aimee Teegarden (Friday Night Lights); Jeff Goldblum; Ed Begley Jr.; Q’orianka Kilcher (The New World); Oscar Nuñez (The Office); and Austin Stowell (Dolphin Tale).
Dwight Manley, owner of Newport Beach-based United Sports Agency, was one of the event’s local underwriters. Others included Rick Aversano, cofounder of Qtera Corp. (sold to Nortel Networks in 2000) and his wife Wendy; chief executive of RSI Holding Corp., Ron Simon, and his wife Sandi; Newport Beach-based Surterre Properties Inc.; Newport Beach-based Coast Magazine; and South Coast Plaza.
Irvine-based Opus Bank and its Opus Community Foundation recently made grants to 14 nonprofits in California and Washington state. Since the foundation was founded a year ago, it has granted $320,000 total. Some of the recipients: Laguna College of Art and Design, Laguna Playhouse and the Irvine-based Jewish Federation & Family Services.
The Irvine office of Phoenix-based Avnet Inc., an electronics parts distributor, will hold a Battle of the Bands event Nov. 3 to raise money for Caterina’s Club, the charity of Anaheim White House restaurant proprietor Bruno Serato. The money will help feed needy families, or so-called “motel kids.”
Orange County became known for its motel kids after HBO did a documentary: Homeless: The Motel Kids of Orange County. CNN also spotlighted Serato as a CNN hero for helping feed motel kids.
Costa Mesa-based Vital Link Orange County hopes to raise $5,000 to $10,000 at its annual donor recognition gala Nov. 2 at the Peter & Mary Muth Interpretive Center in Newport Beach. Vital Link gives high school students hands-on opportunities to explore careers. Irvine-based Allergan Inc. and Pacific Investment Management Co. in Newport Beach are among its donors.
