The Crowd: Orange County continues to reap benefits of Second Harvest Food Bank
Some 13,100 people with food insecurity in Orange County had lunch today, and every day this week, served by the Second Harvest Food Bank. An average of 393,000 children, families and seniors benefit from the sustenance provided by Second Harvest monthly. Its annual funding event, held at holiday time for a 40th incredible year, is known countywide as the “No Lunch” lunch.
The gathering of like-minded people of generous goodwill met at the O.C. Food Bank Distribution Center and shared salad made from a crop of some 840 heads of green buttercrunch lettuce grown and harvested on the fields from Founders Farm, then prepared and served by the talented crew at Bracken’s Kitchen.
Joining the meaningful salad came a portion of soup and bread created and served by Antonio Cagnolo and his Antonello Ristorante. Plenty of inspiration came with this lunch of soup and salad. Sponsored in great part by both Ralphs Grocery Co. and Food4Less, “No Lunch” lunch raised $129,873, enabling Second Harvest to deliver more daily meals to those Orange County residents in need of the assistance.
The crowd was welcomed by Dareen Khatib, board member with Second Harvest as well as the administrator of Health and Wellness for the Orange County Department of Education. Also front and center were fellow Second Harvest advocates Bob Whiton, A.G. Kawamura, the former California Secretary of Food and Agriculture, and Second Harvest chief executive Claudia Bonilla Keller, all sharing important updated information on the status of solving food insecurity in Orange County and elsewhere.
“We cannot overlook the stark reality of the growing hunger gap,” Bonilla Keller stated. “We are not only treating food insecurity but nutritional security as well. And we can meet some of the demands through the scale and scope of our current farm programs where we have harvested 4.7 million pounds to date.”
In fiscal year 2022-23, approximately 50,000 to 60,000 pounds of produce were harvested each week at the 40-acre Harvest Solutions Farm in Irvine, a collaboration with Solutions for Urban Agriculture and the University of California South Coast Research & Extension Center, begun in August 2021. Second Harvest is a member of the Feeding America network. For more information, visit feedoc.org.
Kure It gala raises $413,500
In other good news involving local citizens making a difference for others, Kure It Cancer Research held its annual “Let’s Save Lives Gala” at City National Grove of Anaheim, raising an impressive $413,500 for lung cancer research.
Kure It board chair Todd Perry welcomed guests, including incoming board chair Julie Alai. Perry also acknowledged the board of directors, staff, women’s guild and the event sponsors. He explained that Kure It directly funds researchers targeting underfunded cancers at many of the country’s top comprehensive cancer centers. It provides grants in the $50,000 to $250,000 range to provide seed money to help get an innovative idea off the ground in hopes that larger funding can be secured to take the research to the next level.
Perry introduced Larry Zeiber, City of Hope of Orange County’s vice president of philanthropy, who offered that City of Hope is studying integrative therapies, with more than 800 clinical trials.
Evening sponsors included generous merchants from South Coast Plaza: Bally, Knife Pleat, AnQi and Calo Kitchen + Tequila. Also underwriting were Paul Fenner’s Floral Design, Cardiff-by-the-Sea Golf, Morgan Run Club and Resort, Rancho Santa Fe, among others. Visit KureIt.org to learn more.
Childhelp luncheon coming up
The 38th Orange County “For the Love of a Child” fashion show luncheon produced by Childhelp is set for March 7 at Balboa Bay Resort, Newport Beach.
Co-chaired by Julie Adams, Patricia Ford and Kelly Haugen, working with honorary chair and chapter founder Patti Edwards, Childhelp will welcome some 300 guests for a day of “fashion, fun and friendship,” according to Ford.
The organization’s annual Inspiration Awards will be presented to Ale Boggiano and Jen Lilley, longtime children’s advocates fighting abuse and neglect via the Childhelp sponsored programs.
Once again, South Coast Plaza will present its “New York Vibe” fashion show featuring the lines of Lanvin, Max Mara, Michael Kors Collection, Missoni, Bally and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Hutchins Consort concert March 10
The Newport Beach Country Club will welcome the Hutchins Consort on March 10, celebrating 25 years of concerts, tours, residencies, educational outreach and international music collaborations with its latest presentation, “Oh, the Places We’ve Been!”
The Sunday evening dinner and concert kicks off with a champagne reception and greetings from the honorary chair Margaret Gates.
Founded by Joe McNalley, artistic director of Hutchins Consort, and joined by consort president John McCarthy, devoted support will come from Sue Alexopoulos, Susan Beechner, Dr. Robert Burns and Ruth Ann Burns, Susan Qaqundah, Bruce Larson, Steve Huber, Kathy Green, Barbara Woods, Mehran Sahami and major donor and advocate Sharon McNalley, among many others.
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