Looking To the Future
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley hosted its 35th Annual Benefit Dinner and Auction, “Great Futures Start Here,” on Oct. 12 at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa. More than 550 community members helped raise $450,000 to support the club’s youth programs. The money will give the club freedom to offer more programs, such as its Oak View Branch afterschool program, as well as to help it offer a sliding scale for its fee-based programs to give access to all children in the community who need its services.
Kingston Technology sponsored the event with a gift of $50,000, making it the title sponsor. Hyundai Motor America made a $10,000 contribution.
The club began a tradition at the annual benefit by awarding the Champion of Youth honor to a member of the community who goes above and beyond to help create bright futures for children. Robert Mayer Sr. of the Robert Mayer Corp. was named the inaugural honoree for decades of commitment to bettering the futures of Huntington Beach- and Fountain Valley-area children. Mayer gave the lead gift that allowed the organization to build the Robert Mayer Child Development Preschool at Golden West College.
Just What the Doctor Ordered
Radio and television personality Dr. Drew Pinsky spoke to more than 550 attendees at Human Options’ Fall Fundraising luncheon Oct. 17 at the Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel. Pensky is a board-certified physician in internal and addiction medicine and assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. His presentation covered all aspects of human trauma, including numerous statistics tied to domestic violence. The luncheon raised $250,000 and will support Human Options’ mission to provide a safe haven and programs to help abused women, their children and families rebuild their lives and work with the community to break the cycle of domestic violence. A Human Options graduate speaker shared the podium with her teenage daughter as they described their experiences living with an abusive husband and father and their gratitude for the Human Options therapy programs that helped them deal with the trauma.
True Romance
Mission San Juan Capistrano held its annual Romance of the Mission benefit gala on Sept. 20. More than 400 guests attended a concert by actress and singer Susan Egan, a Tony Award nominee. The event netted $220,000, which will be used to further the preservation of the historic mission, including the initial investigation work for conserving its Sala building.
Longtime Mission San Juan Capistrano supporter and former Mission Preservation Foundation board member Mike Hagan, retired chief executive of Furon Co., which made products out of engineered plastics, was honored at the event. He’s now a director of Pimco Funds.
Well, Well, Well!
The Second Annual Wells of Life Gala and Auction took place Oct. 12 at the Mission Viejo Country Club. Nearly 200 guests attended the event and helped the Laguna Beach nonprofit organization raise more than $100,000.
The funding will help build wells to bring clean water to 1 million people in Third World countries by 2020. Nick Jordan, president of Wells of Life, said, “We want to thank everyone who took part in making our fundraising efforts a success, proving we can make a difference when it comes to providing water to those who need it most. What we saw last night was a giant leap of humanity and we have reached an important milestone by being able to fund our 100th well by year’s end.” Event sponsors included OC Register Magazine, Environmental Water Systems, Total Wine and Lasik Center Medical Group in Irvine.
