Cystic Fibrosis Guild Raises ‘Amazing’ $250,000 : By the Numbers

The Cystic Fibrosis Guild of Orange County hosted a Caribbean-theme fund-raiser at the Newport Beach Marriott that resulted in a boffo bottom line of $250,000. Net. “Amazing,” said Sue Hook, who co-chaired Saturday with Cindy Parker. And it kind of was, when you consider the other numbers. The party only drew 425 guests. ( Only being relative; across town the same night another benefit pulled in 1,000 gown-and-tuxers.) The tickets were only $200. (Many a gala nips $250- or $300-per). Still, the guild raked in a quarter of a million bucks. Proceeds will be used for research on cystic fibrosis, an inherited disease that affects an estimated 35,000 children and young adults in the United States.

Bright and Lively

Party planners called their shindig “Jamaic’n Me Dance!”--and they filled two banquet rooms with vibrant tropical decor, island-style food and reggae played by a steel drum band. In the silent auction area, guests ordered drinks from mini-bars fashioned into cabanas with swaths of bright yellow, orange, green and turquoise fabric. Ice sculptures of toucans and coconuts decorated an appetizer buffet stocked with sauteed scallops and duck, chilled shrimp, crab claws and oysters on the half shell. Everywhere you looked, the room bloomed with colorful touches--balloons, bougainvillea, leafy palms, papier-mache birds. When the time came, guests were led into an equally splashy dining room by six swaying dancers, then seated for a dinner of tossed salad with papaya dressing, filet mignon, lobster tail with coconut-pineapple sauce and bananas flambe.

Meeting, Greeting

Frank Deford, an award-winning sports writer and president of the national Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, flew in from New York to present the guild’s “Breath of Life” award to Eva and Ralph Mann. (Deford and his wife, Carol, had a daughter who died of cystic fibrosis in 1980. He wrote a best-selling book about her called “Alex: The Portrait of a Child.”) Before cocktail hour, Deford shook hands and chatted with several dozen underwriters invited to a room on the 17th floor for a pre-party champagne. Between introductions, Deford said he attended about 50 such fund-raisers per year, “but that doesn’t mean it’s one per state. This is a very important one because this (chapter) raises a lot of money and does a lot of great work. Last week I was at a (cystic fibrosis) bike-a-thon in Connecticut, but if there’d been a conflict with this one I would have been here.” Smiling, he added: “All events are not created equal.”

From the Heart

Asked about the daughter he lost 10 years, Deford said, “People ask me how I can get up and make speeches at these things, but in a way, that’s the easy part. You put on a mask. You have a job to do. Obviously time does heal, or we’d all be walking into walls. But in a sense the death of a child never leaves you. It strikes at funny moments. You’re driving, and the wrong song comes on. Or the sun breaks through the clouds . . . “ Deford let his voice trail off and then with his fingers he pantomimed tears streaming down his cheeks.

Faces

Jan and Barry Grumman gave $50,000 to underwrite the party. Also contributing significantly were Sue and Dave Hook, Cindy and Mike Parker, Pat and Joe O’Connell, Barbara and Allen Balik, Patti and Barry Gump, Gloria and Brian Hale, Ellie and Bob Gillman and Judie and Carmelo Manto.