The San Diego Police Foundation’s fourth annual Gold Shield Gala recently honored police dogs and their officers as “superheroes.” The importance of police canines garnered national attention when the French police dog Diesel was killed during a raid at an apartment house in Saint-Denis in the northern suburbs of Paris. The Gold Shield Gala attracted nearly 300 guests. With a “true blue superheroes” theme, the night focused on the service of San Diego’s police dogs, its K9 crime fighters. The event generated $140,000 in net proceeds that will be used to fund the police foundation’s mission of creating a safer San Diego. The foundation can now put five more police dogs in service when five of the San Diego Police Department’s canine superheroes retire in January. The event was co-chaired by Barbie and Dan Spinazzola, Sandy Redman, and Jeff Mueller, with honorary chairs Lynne and Steve Doyle. Major sponsors included Scripps Health, San Diego Gas & Electric, Wells Fargo, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Barbie and Dan Spinazzola, marketing agency Departure and the San Diego Business Journal.
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San Diego Coastkeeper’s 18th annual Seaside Soiree raised nearly $80,000 for swimmable, fishable, drinkable water in San Diego County. This amount includes $8,200 toward a campaign it launched at the event to raise $20,000 by year’s end to celebrate its 20 years of water protection in the county. Headlined by Waterkeeper Alliance founder and President Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the event provided an up-close introduction to the organization’s plan for the next three years.
San Diego Coastkeeper Interim Executive Director Travis Pritchard said the funds will support its aggressive plan to “combat the chronic pollution threatening our quality of life in San Diego.”
The event sponsors were Coast Law Group, Sun Harbor Marina, Campland on the Bay, San Diego County Regional Airport Authority, Waitt Foundation, Brickman Group, Stewart and Emily Halpern Charitable Fund, Renovate America, Regency Centers, The San Diego Foundation, Barbara Bry, EDCO, GMI, Responsible Solutions, Tosdal Law Firm, Ellis Family Foundation, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Sportfishing Association of California, Unified Port of San Diego, Jack Brown and Jan Chatten-Brown, DeLano & DeLano, Bob Nelson, San Diego SociaLights and SDG&E.
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Mission Edge San Diego congratulates its community partner, the San Diego-based The Honor Foundation, on its recent $2 million grant from The Navy SEAL Foundation.
Ken Davenport, CEO of Mission Edge San Diego, said this was the largest grant awarded by the 15-year-old Navy SEAL Foundation.
The Honor Foundation offers programs focused on professional development, career coaching, and executive education resources for those in the Navy SEAL and Naval Special Warfare community.
The grant from The Navy SEAL Foundation will enable The Honor Foundation to expand its services to the East Coast and to bring in top-level executive leaders who will further develop curriculum and job placement programs.
Philip Dana, former global talent acquisition director for Intuit, now the vice president, chief of people operations for The Honor Foundation, said the grant will also fund technology upgrades that will help scale its core program to a force of 65,000 special operators and that The Honor Foundation will have “nearly 700 graduates by 2018.”
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San Diego-based nonprofit Project Concern International honored two local philanthropic families at the organization’s 27th annual Hands Across Borders gala. The Hoehn (Hoehn
Motors) and Zable families (Cubic Corp.) will receive PCI’s Legacy Award for their multigenerational support of international humanitarian projects. Both families have traveled to visit PCI’s work in India and Zambia, served on the organizations’ boards, made significant financial contributions and offered support through their respective companies. Three San Diego school leaders were also recognized with PCI’s Heroes award for encouraging global citizenship among their students. Carol
Jensen from Francis Parker School, Susie Nordenger from La Jolla Country Day School and David Moseley from The Bishop’s School have impacted local youth by involving them in PCI’s work overseas, Walk for Water, and Global Youth Leadership program. Their work with PCI has been instrumental in developing global perspective and philanthropy in young San Diegans.
Send Kudos/Giving items to sglidden@sdbj.com.
