Go Red for Women Luncheon, Against All Odds Benefit and Much More
WEB-EXCLUSIVE: Check out our photos of people at events across Orange County.
CORRESPONDING SNAPSHOT IMAGES AT TOP RIGHT
1) Eighty-four members and friends of the Center Stage Chapter of The Guilds of the Orange County Performing Arts Center gathered at the Newport Beach home of Jane and Richard Taylor for the support group’s fourth annual Valentine Membership Social. Guests enjoyed a special performance by vocalist Jessica Hayes, a honoree from Tomorrow’s Stars, a Center education program that recognizes and encourages talented young artists with performance opportunities and scholarships. Shown here is the Center Stage Valentine Party greeting committee, seated, from left, Barbara Sullivan and Mary Kat Shelton; standing, Virginia Vandagriff and Suzy Miller.
2) Two hundred community leaders turned out for Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County’s Your Smile Matters: An Evening Honoring Leaders in Oral Health at the Anaheim White House to benefit the USC/CHOC/Healthy Smiles Advanced Pediatric Dental Residency Program. The effort netted $63,200 to help battle the oral health crisis affecting Orange County children. Honorees included Dr. Richard Udin, center, associate professor of clinical dentistry at the USC School of Dentistry and director of Healthy Smiles’ Residency Program and the National Children’s Oral Health Foundation as well as Dr. Cherilyn Sheets, left. Wanda Claro, right, DDS of Irvine Orthodontics, was a diamond-level event sponsor.
3) The YWCA of North Orange County honored Fullerton community leaders A.B. “Buck” and Bobbie Catlin with its Man and Woman of the Year Awards at its annual fundraiser Chocolate Fantasy: An Evening at Mardi Gras at the Los Coyotes Country Club in Buena Park. More than 230 supporters and guests helped net $29,000 to provide free mammogram screenings for uninsured women, youth employment services and college tuition scholarships to women 24 years and older for more than 20,000 Orange County women, girls and families. Joining the Catlins at the benefit is YWCA NOC Executive Director Diane Masseth-Jones, center.
4) South County Senior Services’ Captain’s Ball, this year themed, Dancing Under the Stars, attracted 500 guests and raised $125,000 in net proceeds to support such vital services as Meals on Wheels and Adult Day Care and Transportation Programs. Honorees included Aileen and Paul Brazeau of San Clemente Villas by the Sea, SCSS board members and mother and son “generational supporters” Len Todisco and Anna Boyce, and Langlois Fancy Frozen Foods, a longtime provider of congregate meals for senior centers in Orange County. Enjoying the evening were, from left, SCSS board president Steve Mayer, SCSS Executive Director Marilyn Ditty and event co-chair Ed Schrum.
5) This year’s Go Red for Women Luncheon, the American Heart Association’s fifth such luncheon, drew more than 300 women and featured award-winning stage, film and television actress Cloris Leachman as keynote speaker. The event kicked off with a healthy lifestyle expo and silent auction followed by an educational breakout session led by Albertsons Corporate Nutritionist and Registered Dietitian Heidi Diller. The luncheon, emceed by Suzanne Rico of CBS2 News, featured heart disease and stroke survivors in a designer fashion show. Young stroke survivor and passionate speaker Vandna Mittal shared her story of experiencing a massive stroke at age 15. Mittal, left, is joined by Leachman, right, at the event, which netted $60,000 for the friendraiser/fundraiser.
6) Maestro Valery Gergiev was honored at an intimate post-concert supper following the appearance with the London Symphony Orchestra in the final performance of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County’s Elizabeth and Henry Segerstrom Select Series in the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Dining poolside under a voluminous white tent at the Westin South Coast Plaza Hotel, the delicious gourmet repast prepared by the Westin chefs was overseen by master chef Helene An, founder of the popular Crustacean restaurant in Beverly Hills, which is due to open this fall at Bloomingdale’s, South Coast Plaza. Pictured here enjoying the incredible evening are, from left, Catherine An, Danny An, Elizabeth Segerstrom, and Helene An.
7) Friends of the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter (FOCIS) has been raising funds for homeless families through a series of dinners in area restaurants for 17 years. Joining them for the series this year were Five Crowns in Corona del Mar, Tradition by Pascal in Newport Beach, Kimera of Irvine, Marche Moderne in Costa Mesa, and Mozambique in Laguna Beach. At the final series dinner at Pascal’s for 60 guests, dinner series chairman Judy Cooper said the effort brought in more than $40,000 to the shelter for the year. It is one of only two shelters in the county that keeps families together. Joining Cooper, center, at Pascal’s are FOCIS board members Debbie Victer, left, and Myra Wiener, right.
8) More than 200 supporters and guests attended Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties’ Haute Wired and Hilarious fundraiser at CODE Restaurant Lounge in Newport Beach. More than $95,000 was netted for PP’s Peer Education Program, a teen-to-teen initiative that helps break the cycle of misinformation by clearing up locker room rumors and sexual health myths. The evening included headline entertainment by comedians Carol Leifer and Cathy Ladman, with a special presentation to 2009 Distinguished Honoree Lance Brown. Joining Brown, right, is PP’s President and CEO Joe Dunn, Haute Wired co-founder Teddie Ray, and board chair Allyson Sonenshine.
9) Two hundred and fifty Orange County business professionals gathered at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort in Newport Beach for the Building Block Foundation Funds’ fourth annual Against All Odds benefit. Former Angels’ pitcher Jim Abbott, born without a right hand, was the featured speaker along with Michael Malenitza, a former foster youth and Orangewood Guardian Scholar. Donations of $25,000 each were presented to the Newport Sports Museum, Taller San Jose, Kidworks, Project Access, and the Orangewood Children’s Foundation to support at-risk, underprivileged youth. The event itself netted $25,000. Joining Abbott, center, at the event was event chair Ryan Gallagher, left, and BBFF CEO Gene Howard.
10) Miles Watkins, center, is a sophomore at Mater Dei High School and co-founder and president of Monarchs for Mobility, a high school support group for Free Wheelchair Mission, a local non-profit committed to providing wheelchairs for the impoverished disabled in developing countries. Louis Vuitton recently invited Monarchs for Mobility members and their parents for a reception at its South Coast Plaza store, for which a percentage of sales was given FWM. Watkins said she is hoping to personally deliver wheelchairs for FWM to a developing country her senior year. Joining Watkins at the reception was Louis Vuitton Store Director Bill Peters, left, and FWM’s Founder and President Don Schoendorfer, right.
