Brunch Raises Funds to Fight Child Abuse

Parents Anonymous, a statewide child abuse prevention program, held a brunch Dec. 3 at Chaya Brasserie and raised $18,000. Proceeds will be used to provide free, weekly support groups for parents under stress and to provide help to children and adults who were physically and emotionally abused as children. Katherine Sung, Carol Freudenberger and Karen Kalinske were co-chairs.

* The Valley Senior Service Center in Reseda received a $25,000 check Jan. 11 from Kaiser Permanente’s Good Neighbor Program for its new community information campaign. The Good Neighbor Grant is awarded once a year and will be used by the center to provide video and care-giver programs to corporations.

* A benefit starring Mark Russell was held Jan. 14 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and raised $106,000 to benefit Chaverim, a group dedicated to helping developmentally disabled Jewish adults explore their Jewish identities while developing independent living skills. Teri Bialosky, Devera Lurie Waldman and Judee Orlijan were co-chairs.

* Chez Melange held its fifth annual “For Our Children” food and wine tasting/fund-raising festival at its Redondo Beach restaurant Jan. 14 with a number of South Bay and Westside restaurants, food suppliers and wineries participating. St. Clare’s Family Care Center, Vistas for Blind Children and the Richstone Foundation will benefit from the $32,000 raised. A $1,000 donation will go to Young Chefs of Los Angeles for scholarships to high school students.

* The Martin Luther King Birthday Dinner Celebration Jan. 15 at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel netted $285,000, exceeding a goal of $250,000. The board of directors of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Los Angeles, who sponsored the event, will use the proceeds for programs dealing with apartheid and Southern Africa, voter registration, the Rosa Parks Sexual Assault Crisis Center and others. Richard Farman, chairman and CEO of Southern California Gas Co. was dinner chairman.

* The Franciscan Health Center, a nonprofit, public center sponsored by the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart, has been awarded a $3,000 grant by the Rotary Club of Los Angeles. The donation will provide dental care to children of low-income families.