Breakfast Club Does Some Serious SOS Fund Raising

The yuppie is dead. Long live the yuppie.

Consider: A group of youngish corporate types form an association dedicated to good food, fine wine, power breakfasts--and raising money for the homeless and needy.

Bye-bye egregious ‘80s, hello beneficent fin de siecle .

Last week, just such a group gathered at Five Feet Too restaurant in Fashion Island to celebrate its first fund-raising event with an exquisite five-course meal.

Buzzing to the Newport Beach shopping mall after work on Thursday were members of the Breakfast Club, whose $502 annual membership fee funds a charitable foundation called Fair Share 502.

From the foundation’s coffers Thursday came a photo-op-sized $21,000 check for Share Our Selves, the Costa Mesa charity agency headed by Jean Forbath.

Forbath accepted the check from Peter Zeughauser, founding president of the Breakfast Club, between the second and third dinner courses--”naked shrimp salad,” and “baked mahi mahi with fresh strawberry basil.”

“This,” she said, laughing, “is a far cry from the peanut butter sandwiches we usually have at SOS.”

Forbath reported on her charity’s progress toward buying a $1.4-million building in Costa Mesa--the embattled agency’s answer to eviction from its rented home--and she thanked her hosts for the check.

“We want to be just stewards of your love and your compassion and your money,” she said.

Zeughauser, corporate counsel for the Irvine Co., told the 166 assembled guests that the idea for the fund-raising group was that of his wife, Helen.

“Helen is the person who motivated me to do something for the homeless and the needy--actually insisted that I do this,” he said.

Before dinner, Helen had explained. “I just felt that with so many charitable organizations, the issue (of homelessness) was still somehow being overlooked,” she said.

“I told Peter, ‘I don’t want to give any more money to politicians. I don’t want to give any more money to big established national charities. I want to do something right here, where I can see where the money is going.’ ”

The benefit was part of a nationwide fund-raiser for the homeless sponsored by Share Our Strength, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that coordinated 100 such events on Thursday.

In addition to the check for Forbath, Fair Share 502 gave $9,000 to the Washington foundation for national and international programs to aid the needy.

Among guests were founding board members Norma Glover, Michael Porter, Lauri Mendenhall, Glenn Dassoff, Michael Shulman, Gary Douglas and Michael Kang, owner of Five Feet Too.

Preparing one dinner course each were chefs Kang; Steven Kwok of Five Feet restaurant in Laguna Beach; Michael Philippi of The Hobbit in Orange; Lucky Teachanarong of Bangkok Four in Costa Mesa, and Janice Philippi of La Mouton Noir in Saratoga, Calif.