Briefly: Event to collect feminine hygiene products
Gina Jackson, a USC master’s student in social work, is teaming up with the Back Street Brewery in Anaheim for Mardi Bra 2016, an event to collect feminine hygiene products for donation to girls and women in need.
The event will take place from 5 to 10 p.m. Feb. 9. The cost of admission is a box of tampons, pads or liners, which will be donated to local shelters and pantries that assist low-income and homeless girls and women in Orange County.
Rock and Wrap it Up!, a New York-based anti-poverty think tank, said research has shown that the second-most-requested items by homeless shelters and pantries across North America are feminine hygiene products, with food being No. 1.
Jackson said the community outreach effort provides dignity and health and well-being to girls and women who are destitute.
The Back Street Brewery is located at 1884 S. Santa Cruz St., Anaheim.
For more information, contact Jackson at (949) 769-0610 or gcjackso@usc.edu.
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Chapman honors officer Belay
Chapman University public safety officer Michael Belay has received the Presidential Medal for Distinguished Contributions to Humanity, the highest honor awarded by the university.
Belay embarked more than 15 years ago on a quest to raise funds and obtain supplies to better the lives of people in his hometown of Tembien, Ethiopia, where many children orphaned by the AIDS epidemic and the country’s wars were living in poverty on the streets. He founded the nonprofit Hands Across the Planet to Poor Youth (HAPPY), to provide ongoing fundraising for the cause. He sold his family’s Orange County house to build a school in Tembien and more recently refinanced his car in order to buy uniforms and school supplies for the students, according to the university.
Belay is currently working to bring pure water to Tembien.
For more information and to help Belay’s cause, visit happyinethiopia.org or the organization’s Facebook page.
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Law library to be named for the Darlings
For more than a decade, the Hugh and Hazel Darling Foundation has been a major supporter of Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law, the law library in particular.
At the end of 2015, the foundation gave the law library of $2.78 million, bringing its total gifts to $5 million. The Fowler School of Law will recognize the donations by naming the law library in honor of the late Hugh and Hazel Darling.
The gift will be invested in a permanent endowment, with income to go to the Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Librarian Chair, which is currently held by Fowler Law School professor Linda Kawaguchi.
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Donation to help O.C., L.A. teen artists
The Orange County-based Sharon D. Lund Foundation recently donated $1 million to Ryman Arts, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the artistic talents of young teens throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties, according to a news release.
The donation will support Ryman Arts’ operations while also serving as a matching challenge for the local community, the release said.
More than 80% of Ryman Arts students come from low-income families, it added.
For more information, visit rymanarts.org or call (213) 629-2787.
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Pacific Symphony players to perform at Boathouse
Musicians from the Pacific Symphony will perform an eclectic repertoire at the Boathouse Collective, a restaurant and bar in Costa Mesa, at 8 p.m. Thursday.
During the symphony’s second Music Mixology event, the musicians will be the centerpiece of a music-inspired game show.
Audience members will answer music trivia, and winners can then choose among 27 songs — classical, rock, pop and more — that the musicians will play on the spot.
The first Music Mixology was held at the 4th Street Market in Santa Ana.
The Boathouse Collective is at 1640 Pomona Ave., Costa Mesa.
No tickets are required, but participants are encouraged to arrive early for seating. Dinner reservations can be made by calling (949) 646-3176 or emailing reservations@boathousecollective.com.