Shriver supports kids

Deirdre Newman

California First Lady Maria Shriver brought her celebrity power to

the Balboa Bay Club Wednesday as the guest speaker at a fundraiser

for the Orangewood Children’s Foundation -- helping it net more than

$125,000 for a scholarship endowment.

The foundation is a private, nonprofit organization that provides

services to prepare the county’s foster youth to become

self-sufficient. It raised money for and created the Orangewood

Children’s Home, an emergency shelter for the county’s abused,

neglected and abandoned children.

The event was hosted by the foundation’s auxiliary, 44 Women for

Children, which has grown beyond the initial 44 women who started the

group. The auxiliary was found in 1999 by Susan Samueli and supports

the foundation, especially programs that help teens to early

20-somethings succeed in their transition out of the foster care

system.

Shriver used the opportunity to exhort the auxiliary members to

give back, from donating blood to helping Habitat for Humanity build

a house.

“We’re 35 [million] to 36 million people strong in the state,”

Shriver said. “Seven million people are engaged in service. That

number should be doubled, even tripled because now more than ever, we

need help. There is nothing you can’t do to help this state.”

The endowed scholarship honors Linda Howard, who died of cancer in

October and was married to Orangewood’s Chief Executive Gene Howard.

Linda Howard had worked with abused and neglected children through

various programs.

The first recipient of the scholarship, Morgan Kashinsky, 21, came

to the Orangewood Children’s Home when she was 15 because her parents

were abusing drugs and neglected her and her brother. She received a

$6,000 scholarship that she said she would put toward USC, where she

is planning to get a master’s degree in social work.

Kashinsky said she was grateful for the foundation’s support.

“They’ve really ensured my success in school and helped me

financially and emotionally,” Kashinsky said. “They’re like my second

family. It’s been a blessing.”

Shriver expressed her admiration for the former Orangewood foster

youths who were at the luncheon.

“You deserve our respect, and you have it,” Shriver said. “I am in

awe of what you did. You weren’t born into a famous family or married

to someone who gave you this job. You had the cards stacked against

you and held your head high. You give us hope ... that our work

matters and we can really change people’s lives one at a time.”

Shana Coleman, one of the auxiliary members from Laguna Hills,

said she was inspired by Shriver’s speech.

“It was actually really great and it gave me some incentive to do

some things in the community,” Coleman said.

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.