COUNTYWIDE : Disneyland Honors Nonprofit Groups

A program that an Anaheim couple founded to prevent child abuse won $50,000 and the top honor at Wednesday’s 34th annual Disneyland Community Service Awards luncheon.

Eli Home Inc. was among 63 nonprofit groups to receive part of the $300,000 from Disneyland. The more than 1,000 people who attended the luncheon gave the winners a standing ovation.

“We’re just thrilled,” said Lorri Galloway, co-founder and executive director of Eli Home Inc. “We are amazed. . . . It was unbelievable.”

When Lorri and her husband, Mike Galloway, decided eight years ago to do something to help abused children, they had to scrape around for donations. It was an arduous task that set back their idea for a shelter for abused children by more than a year, she said. Now the group has four homes and the extra money is much appreciated, she said.

“It is big money to an organization like ours,” Lorri Galloway said. “It would take several fund-raisers for us to raise this kind of money.”

About 450 nonprofit organizations competed for the Disneyland awards. The winners were chosen by a six-member awards committee. Frank G. Wells, president and chief operating officer of the Walt Disney Co., said he was impressed by the nominees and lauded the service groups.

“A community can prosper and grow through the caring leadership of its citizens,” he said. “The great spirit of volunteerism. . . . You are a shining example of this true spirit of America.”

Two service groups received special Judges’ Awards of $15,000. They were the South Coast Literacy Council and the Anaheim Police Department’s DARE program.

Anaheim Police Capt. Peter De Paola said the award was an honor to the department and the five officers who work with the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, which aims to persuade fifth- and sixth-graders not to succumb to peer pressure to use drugs.

“It’s a great reward for the officers who put so much time and effort into this great program,” he said.

Disneyland’s $300,000 contribution was the largest in the history of the awards luncheon. To date, the company has donated more than $3 million to nonprofit organizations.