Around Town: Newport Beach holiday closures
Newport Beach City Hall, at 100 Civic Center Drive, and libraries will be closed Thursday and Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Libraries will close at 6 p.m. Wednesday and will reopen for normal hours on Saturday.
There will be no street sweeping on Thursday and Friday.
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Newport Beach aids toy drives for O.C. families, military
The city of Newport Beach is supporting the Spark of Love toy drive and Operation Christmas to help needy children and teenagers in Orange County along with military personnel and their families.
The 23rd annual Spark of Love drive runs through Dec. 24. All Newport Beach fire stations, the lifeguard headquarters, the Central Library and City Hall are accepting new, unwrapped toys, sports equipment and gift cards.
In Orange County, Spark of Love combines efforts with the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program, the Social Services Agency’s Operation Santa Claus and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Holiday Charities program. The groups distribute about 200,000 toys annually to area children during the holiday season, according to a news release.
The Newport Beach city clerk’s office has partnered with Operation Christmas, a program organized by Yellow Ribbon America to support members of the military and their families. New, unwrapped toys, new or used DVDs and gift cards will be collected on the second floor of Bay E at City Hall and at the Oasis Senior Center until noon Dec. 22.
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Spin event raises funds for cancer organization
The second annual His & Hers health and charity event at Fixed Gear Spin & Crossfit Body X raised more than $4,000 for Athletes 4 Cancer.
The Nov. 15 event raised funds for the nonprofit group that helps survivors rebuild their lives after cancer through ocean based activities, according to a news release.
The gym is at 2902 W. Coast Hwy. in Newport Beach. For more information, visit athletes4cancer.org. To donate, visit donate.athletes4cancer.org/hisandhers2015.
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Newport Beach mayor honored by Orange County Business Council
The Orange County Business Council presented its leadership award for public service to Newport Beach Mayor Ed Selich Nov. 18.
Selich is the first city council member in the county to receive the award, according to a news release.
Selich was recognized for his leadership on several city infrastructure invesstment projects and his commitment to fiscal responsibility in projects like the Uptown Newport development, a proposed mixed-use project with up to 1,244 residential units, retail space and two acres of park space along Jamboree Road. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2021.
“Mayor Selich has been making certain our project fulfills the vision of the elected officials, city staff and the electorate,” said Bill Shopoff of Shopoff Reality Investments, who owns the Uptown Newport project, in a prepared statement. “As a result of his focus and drive, we are underway and our project will create jobs, generate ongoing revenues to the city, and create a cornerstone for new development in the balance of the airport area.”
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Chew collects $500 for CSP
Chew for Charity, a group of 35 women who raise funds and awareness for the Community Service Programs, raised $500 for CSP at its meeting Nov. 17 in Newport Beach.
CSP is a nonprofit that provides counseling and support services to struggling Orange County children and families.
Chew for Charity, which meets monthly, has raised more than $80,000 for CSP since 2007.
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Coalition Duchenne honors Center for Hypertension doctor
The Coalition Duchenne awarded Ron Victor, director of the Cedars-Sinai Center for Hypertension, with their 2015 Lotus Award at their fifth annual fundraiser Nov. 13. The theme for this year’s fundraiser was “Night at the Museum” and the event was held at the Marconi Automotive Museum in Tustin.
The Coalition Duchenne, founded in 2011, is a Newport Beach based charity dedicated to raising awareness for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and funding research concerning Duchenne.
Duchenne affects one in 3,500 boys worldwide, according to the coalition’s founder and executive director Catherine Jayasuriya.
Victor was honored during the fundraiser’s award presentation for his contributions to Duchenne research.
“Duchenne is a complex disease and the reason these boys die so young is because of pulmonary issues,” Jayasuriya said. “People don’t realize it doesn’t affect the brain, but it’s a purely progressive muscle wasting so these boys pass away when their minds are still full of dreams and hopes. Ron has always been supportive of our research ideas.”
Victor has researched the beneficial effects of nitric oxide, which signals blood vessels to relax during exercise and increase blood flow. He showed that the drugs Viagra and Cialis improved blood flow to the muscles of boys with Duchenne, according to a release. He is now investigating a nitric oxide donor with a grant from the coalition.
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OCC collects 3,000 toys to donate to cancer patients
The Spirit of Ability Club at Orange Coast College collected over 3,000 toys at toy drive for the Jessie Rees Foundation last month.
With the toys collected from the drive, the club was able to fill over 200 Joy Jars and sibling boxes to give to children battling cancer.
Jessie Joy Rees, granddaughter of retired OCC kinesiology professor Leon Skeie, created Joy Jars and delivered more than 3,000 of them to children is hospitals during her 10-month battle with two brain tumors. She died in 2012.
The Jessie Rees Foundation continues to donate the jars worldwide to kids with cancer.
For the drive, small toys such as hot wheels, crayons, beanie hats, stickers, puzzles, notepads, Slinkys, and activity books were requested to fit inside the jars.