The Boys & Girls Club of Venice will host the Fifth Annual Champion of Youth Gala on Friday, October 8, 2010 at The Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey with all proceeds from the event benefiting the club’s academic enrichment, arts, extracurricular, and leadership development programs. The gala features a silent auction and live auction with over 150 items ranging from trips to the Caribbean to autographed memorabilia from five-time NBA Champion Kobe Bryant.
During the gala, the club will award the Champion of Youth Award to UCLA men’s basketball coach, Ben Howland, and the Corporate Leadership Award to JoAnne and Jaime Hepp of team TAG. The event begins at 6:00 p.m. with a reception and silent auction followed by dinner at 7:30 p.m. Kevin Frazier of Entertainment Tonight and Jaime Maggio of KCS-2/KCAL-9 will serve as co-hosts for the event.
Ben Howland is an alumnus of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara and has been a longstanding supporter of the Boys & Girls Club Movement. JoAnne and Jaime Hepp joined the club as volunteer mentors and have served on the board of directors at the Boys & Girls Club of Venice. Through their company’s non-profit arm, they have been active in engaging its employees in a variety of mentoring and leadership programs at the club.
“We are very excited to have Coach Howland and the Hepps as our honorees,†said dinner co-chair, Julie Henley of Demand Media. “This event is a great way to support children and teens that need us to help guide them to a productive future.â€
Past honorees have included Nancy and David Iben, FIDM, Margaret and David Lederer, Joey Baker, Michael Wise of JH Snyder Co., and Milton Swimmer of Swimmer Development.
This year’s sponsors include Carol and Jim Collins, Tradewinds Global Investors, Cathy and Ed Hession, J&J Foundation, Pasy Wang, The Macdonald Foundation, Westfield, UCLA, Cydcor, David Pollock/JP Morgan, Fariba Zand/State Farm Insurance, The Bush Family Trust, Morgan and Stephen N. Smith, Lisa and Alvin Michaelson, FIDM, Playa Vista, CAPS Universal, City National Bank, Swimmer Development, JH Snyder Co., and team TAG.
Non-attendees can send a real-time test message and make a donation pledge to the Boys & Girls Club of Venice starting at 8 a.m. on Friday, October by texting (310) 228-7693.
For more information about supporting the Boys & Girls Club of Venice, please contact, Aileen Martinez at (310) 574-5053, or via email at aileen@bgcv.org. The Club is located at 2232 Lincoln Blvd., Venice, CA 90291.
