CureDuchenne raised nearly $800,000 at its recent annual gala, held at the Balboa Bay Resort in Newport Beach.
The Newport Beach-based nonprofit raises awareness and funds research to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which affects 1 in 3,500 boys.
More than 300 people attended the gala, which featured CureDuchenne founders Debra and Paul Miller, and their 16-year-old son Hawken, who has Duchenne.
“Our organization doesn’t need to raise the hundreds of millions of dollars it takes to develop a drug,” said Debra Miller, chief executive of CureDuchenne. “We only need about $6 million … over the next two years to initiate the research so that we can turn them over to the large drug developers.”
Boys with Duchenne are usually diagnosed by 5 and in a wheelchair by 12, according to CureDuchenne. Most don’t survive their mid-20s, the organization said.
The event honored retired NHL ice hockey player Scott Niedermayer, and his wife Lisa, for their years of support of CureDuchenne.
CureDuchenne event sponsors included Anaheim Ducks, Illumina Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co., among others.
Stan Frazier, former Sugar Ray drummer-turned-chef, planned the dinner menu for the event.
Frazier is co-owner of A Restaurant in Newport Beach.
Songstress for Easter Seals
The Avril Lavigne Foundation donated $10,000 to Easter Seals Southern California to support recreational programs for children with disabilities and their families.
The Santa Ana-based nonprofit was among 10 Easter Seals affiliates selected to receive an Avril Lavigne Rockstar Club grant from Lavigne’s foundation.
Lavigne is a singer-songwriter from Canada.
Easter Seals will use the grant to offset the $700 fee each camper must raise to attend Camp Oakes in Big Bear.
The YMCA of Greater Long Beach’s Camp Oakes, which provides a camping experience for kids with disabilities and other groups, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year.
Painting for Playhouse
A still-life oil painting by the late artist Virginia Woolley has been given to The Laguna Playhouse.
The artwork, which was donated by Laguna Beach residents Matt and Mary Lawson, will be auctioned to help support the theater.
The opening bid for the painting, titled Fruit Still Life, is $2,000.
People can bid on the painting online through March at biddingforgood.com/lbpyt.
Place to Bond
Dr. Jane L. Frederick was honored at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of a new bonding room at Women’s Hospital at Saddleback Memorial Medical Center in Laguna Hills.
Frederick funded the project for an undisclosed amount.
Parents who give birth through surrogate mothers can bond with their newborns in the room, which is called the Jane L. Frederick, M.D. Bonding Room.
Home-Grown Help
Orange Home Grown Inc., a nonprofit that runs and manages the Old Towne Orange Farmers and Artisans Market, donated $7,500 to six local nonprofit organizations: Best Friends Animal Society, Farmers Market Coalition, Mary’s Kitchen, The Orange High School Agriculture Program, The Bicycle Tree and The Friendly Center.
Orange Home Grown’s Food For Neighbors program, which collects donations from the community and farmers, provided Mary’s Kitchen with an estimated 750 pounds of food this past year, said Brian Kunisch, Orange Home Grown’s newly elected board president.
Orange Home Grown was founded by nine Orange residents: Carolyn Cramp, Betsy Elliott, Vicky Kisow, Brian Kunisch, Nedra Kunisch, Megan Penn, Matthew Ludin, Kirsten Trautwein and Martha Turner.
