Starry Starry Night, Voices for Children’s signature gala, had a record-breaking year, raising $1.37 million for foster children in San Diego County. Funds raised will provide 450 foster children in San Diego County with one-on-one advocacy of a volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocate and 1,810 more children will have case advocacy — a total of 2,260 foster children served. The event sponsors were
Qualcomm Inc., Cox Communications Inc., Hughes Marino, George Lai, Nicole and Todd Mikles, the Farrell Family Foundation, and event co-chairs Stephanie Bergsma and Dwight Hare.
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More than 600 supporters of Scripps Mercy Hospital celebrated the hospital’s 125-year history at the annual Mercy Ball at the Port Pavilion Broadway Pier in San Diego. The event raised $540,000 in support of the maternal and child health programs at Mercy hospital campuses in San Diego and Chula Vista.
The 44th Annual Mercy Ball Captain Sponsor was the Caster Family of A-1 Self-Storage. Chief Officer sponsors were Roberta and Malin Burnham; Maureen and Charlie King; Doug and Geniya Manchester; Mary and Daniel Mulvihill; Conrad Prebys and Debbie Turner and Richard Woltman.
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Home of Guiding Hands announced that San Diego-based accounting firm Gatto, Pope & Walwick LLP adopted one of its 31 residential group homes for the developmentally disabled in San Carlos for Thanksgiving. The employees spent the evening cooking, visiting with HGH clients, feasting and getting to know each person who calls HGH home. HGH said it is grateful for the new partnership and looks forward to more Thanksgivings with Gatto, Pope & Walwick.
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The Emilio Nares Foundation held its 12th annual “Harvest for Hope” fundraiser recently at the San Diego Central Library. More than 400 people attended the event, which raised $190,000 to fund programs that navigate families through their child’s journey with cancer. An anonymous donor also gifted a van for ENF’s flagship program, “Ride With Emilio,” which transports children and their parents to and from the hospital. This year’s honorees were the Corrao Group and D.W. Hearst Jr. Foundation. Visit enfhope.org.
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WTS, the region’s largest transportation organization dedicated to advancing women in transportation, has selected Renita Mollman as the San Diego Chapter’s 2015 Woman of the Year. Recognized as the most prestigious award in San Diego’s transportation industry, the award honors women who are outstanding role models in the field of transportation. Mollman is vice president and general manager of Burns & McDonnell’s Southern California offices.
Paul Fischer, president of regional operations for Burns & McDonnell, said Mollman has spent her entire career in aviation engineering managing civilian and military projects and “if you’ve flown on an airplane anywhere in the U.S., chances are you’ve landed in an airport that Renita has touched.”
Mollman supports STEM education, regularly visits magnet schools, and mentors young engineers at Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Fullerton. She also leads an internship program for students at Burns & McDonnell.
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For the first time in the history of the PGA Tour, a San Diego charity has been chosen as the PGA Tour Charity of the Year. Monarch School, the recipient of the national distinction, will receive a $30,000 grant from the PGA Tour and be featured in a PGA Tour-produced television public service announcement throughout the 2016 PGA Tour season. Monarch School is in San Diego’s Barrio Logan neighborhood and its mission is to educate hundreds of students impacted by homelessness and to help them develop the necessary skills and experiences for personal success. The school is the only comprehensive K-12 school in the U.S. developed specifically to serve homeless students. Visit monarchschools.org/
Send Kudos/Giving items to sglidden@sdbj.com.
