On Saturday, October 15, 2016, more than 1,200 people will attend the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles ‘Once Upon a Time’ Gala at The Event Deck at L.A. LIVE.
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The biennial event will bring together prominent philanthropists, business and entertainment community leaders, local dignitaries and hospital supporters to raise funds for the hospital to provide expert critical care to its pediatric population.
Actress Drew Barrymore, The Billy and Audrey L. Wilder Foundation and The Los Angeles Kings hockey team will each receive the Courage to Care award, which was inspired by Dustin Meraz, an 11-year-old terminally ill cancer patient whose legacy was to encourage others to have the courage to care for children in need. While these champions of children and child-related causes come from varied backgrounds and industries, they share a common bond through their participation in philanthropy, altruism and activism to improve the welfare of children worldwide. Past honorees include Natalie Portman, Johnny Depp, Jennifer Lopez, Heidi Klum, Jamie Lee Curtis,Pau Gasol, Costco Wholesale and The Walt Disney Company.
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“This evening is a celebration of the ongoing commitment these compassionate individuals have made to the patients and families we serve,” says Paul S. Viviano, president and CEO, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Drew Barrymore is an actress, author, director, producer, model, businesswoman, humanitarian and mother. Her dedication to helping children in need has fortified her commitment to Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Her annual Mother’s Day pampering events in conjunction with her company Flower Beauty have had a lasting positive impact on CHLA’s patient families. In 2007, Barrymore was named an Ambassador Against Hunger for the United Nations World Food Programme. She is also a supporter of Safe Kids Worldwide, an organization that promotes injury prevention and child safety.
Legendary Hollywood film director Billy Wilder and his wife, actress Audrey Wilder, were longtime supporters of charitable causes throughout their 53-year-marriage via The Billy and Audrey L. Wilder Foundation. In 2012, the Wilder Family Trust donated $11 million to support CHLA’s Division of Neurosurgery, the Neuro-Oncology program, the Division of Rheumatology and other programs that will benefit patients and the community for many years to come.
The Los Angeles Kings are currently celebrating their 50th anniversary. Superstars on and off the ice, the organization is this year’s corporate Courage to Care honoree and the Gala’s Title Sponsor. The Kings Care Foundation is the award-winning non-profit charity of the Kings dedicated to providing children throughout greater Los Angeles with educational and recreational opportunities. Frequent patient visits, blood drives and preventive care programs highlight the organization’s longstanding commitment toCHLA.
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“We are honored to have the opportunity to be recognized by our tremendous partners at CHLA,” said Luc Robitaille, Kings president, business operations. “Our relationship with CHLA is one of the longest and most impactful partnerships we have and this event will be a perfect launching pad for us to begin celebrating our 50th year in Los Angeles. We couldn’t be more thrilled.”
The evening’s special guest is Mark D. Krieger, MD, chief of medical staff and head of the Division of Neurosurgery at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Krieger is the inaugural chair holder of the Billy and Audrey L. Wilder Endowed Chair in Neurosurgery, co-director of the Neurosciences Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and a professor of neurological surgery at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.
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Red Carpet arrivals will begin at 5:30 pm, followed by a cocktail reception and sit-down dinner prepared by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. The evening’s ‘Once Upon a Time’ theme will be represented by dramatic Cirque-style performances, bringing to life some of the most famous children’s stories through acrobats and aerialists. Tony nominee and Grammy Award winner Josh Gad will be the evening’s host. Global pop superstarKaty Perry will conclude the night with a special performance.
The evening’s Premier Sponsors are Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg, Costco Wholesale, Delta Air Lines, The Goldwin Foundation, and Kristin and Jeffrey Worthe.
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The event is sold out. To support the event through the purchase of a tribute journal ad or a general event donation, please contact Michael Sandler atmsandler@chla.usc.edu.
Last week, President and Mrs. Carter, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood helped build or improve 35 homes in partnership with Memphis families and 1,500 volunteers. New home construction and several beautification and aging in place projects that took place during the build week helped fulfill Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis’ commitment to build 50 new homes and revitalize 100 homes in the city’s Uptown area.
“We are excited to head to Canada in 2017 with President and Mrs. Carter,” said Jonathan Reckford, CEO of Habitat for Humanity International. “Their longstanding commitment to helping families build a better future for themselves has been a blessings to us and continues to inspire people everywhere to help us fulfill our mission.”
Since 1984, President and Mrs. Carter have traveled across the U.S. and the world with Habitat, donating their time and voices annually to build and improve homes, and raise awareness of the critical need for decent and affordable housing. Inspiring millions over the last three decades, President and Mrs. Carter have worked alongside nearly 100,000 volunteers in 14 countries to build, renovate and repair homes.
To learn more about Habitat’s Carter Work Project, visit habitat.org/cwp.
International nonprofit Last Chance for Animals (“LCA”) announced today that New York Times best-selling author and activist Kathy Freston will receive the “Vegan of the Year” award at its Annual Fundraising Gala on Saturday evening, October 22, in Beverly Hills, CA.
The announcement was made today by LCA Founder and President, Chris DeRose .
This year’s gala will focus on LCA’s efforts to support the rangers at Africa’s Virunga National Park and its’ critically endangered mountain gorilla population. Defending the park and its inhabitants from poachers, militants, and environmental exploitation is an on-going battle for Virunga’s park rangers who risk their lives daily to protect part of the 900 mountain gorillas remaining in the wild.
Freston, an author, wellness expert and vegan activist, skyrocketed to fame with four consecutive New York Times bestsellers: ” THE LEAN: A Revolutionary (and Simple!) 30-Day Plan for Healthy Lasting Weight Loss “, ” Veganist “, ” Quantum Wellness “, and ” The One “. Freston’s latest book, ” The Book of Veganish: The Ultimate Guide To Easing Into A Plant-Based, Cruelty-Free, Awesomely Delicious Way To Eat — with 70 Easy Recipes Anyone Can Make “, co-authored with Rachel Cohn, is set for release on Aug. 30, 2016, and is published by Penguin Random House.
Freston’s work promotes a body/mind/soul approach to health and happiness, and centers around a plant-based diet for physical, environmental, and ethical reasons. She believes in “leaning in” to change and cites the proven benefits of “progress, not perfection”. A media favorite, she has appeared on Ellen , Dr. Oz , Good Morning America , Charlie Rose , and The Oprah Winfrey Show . Freston’s work has been featured in Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, Self, W, and Fitness Magazine. She’s also a regular contributor to the Huffington Post .
LCA’s annual fundraiser is a star-studded event honoring notable animal activists and supporting over three decades of ground breaking, undercover investigations exposing animal abuse in various areas such as; factory farms, vivisection, puppy mills, and class B dealers. The October 22 gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel will feature dinner, dancing, and live music.
Last Chance for Animals (LCA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to eliminating animal exploitation through education, investigations, legislation, and public awareness campaigns. Since its formation in 1984, LCA has succeeded as one of the nation’s pioneer animal advocacy groups. LCA’s educational and public outreach programs have empowered the public to make positive changes for animals in their communities. For more information, please click here.
Aug 31, 2016 09:00 am Last Chance for Animals (LCA) announced today that model Kenya Kinski-Jones, daughter of music legend Quincy Jones, and supermodel/actress Nastassja Kinski will be featured in a PSA campaign for one of the international nonprofit’s key initiatives: raising awareness for the critically endangered mountain gorillas in Africa’s Virunga National Park.
Currently a fashion “It Girl,” the 23 year-old Kinski-Jones is featured in designer Stella McCartney’s “POP” fragrance campaign, alongside other millennial role models including Madonna’s daughter Lourdes “Lola” Leon, actress Amandla Stenberg, and indie pop musician Grimes. Kinski-Jones has also appeared in a fashion campaign for Calvin Klein Jeans and has been featured in virtually every major fashion publication. Now, she’s forging a path as an animal activist to help raise awareness for severely endangered animals that are unable to protect themselves.
“Kenya is an extraordinary young woman whose deep passion to protect animals combined with her rising celebrity status will help raise global awareness for the critical situation in Virunga facing the last remaining mountain gorillas on earth,” commentedLCA Founder and President, Chris DeRose. “We are honored that she has chosen to collaborate with us on such an important issue.”
Despite his stardom with the Beatles, or maybe because of it,George Harrison had an ongoing search for meaning – the meaning of life and of death, and he yearned for a long time for an encounter with someone with the answers.
“I get confused when I look around at the world,” said Harrison during his last public performance before he died in 2001, “and I see everybody is running around and, as Bob Dylan said, ‘He not busy being born is busy dying’, and yet nobody is trying to figure out what’s the cause of death and what happens when you die. That to me is the only thing really that’s of any importance. The rest is all secondary.”
Harrison thought that perhaps no one wanted to talk about what happens after death because no one understood it, but he believed in a ‘knock and the door will be opened’ philosophy. If you want to know anything in this life, he said, you just have to knock on the door.
He acknowledged, however, that getting to the truth was no easy task, and that there is a lot of noise one must get past to find answers. “We’re being barraged by bullshit,” said Harrison. “The answer is how to get peace of mind and how to be happy. That’s really what we’re supposed to be here for. The difficult thing is that we all go through our lives and through our days and we don’t experience bliss. It’s a very subtle thing to experience that and to be able to know how to do that. It’s something you don’t just stumble across; you’ve got to search for it.”
Performance with the Beatles was happy at times, Harrison acknowledges, but that’s not the kind of bliss he was talking about: “where every atom of your body is just buzzing because it’s beyond the mind. [Bliss is experienced] when there’s no thought involved. It’s a really tricky thing to try to get to that stage because it means controlling the mind and being able to transcend the relative states of consciousness.”
See George Harrison’s last, and unexpected performance, here.
