Q & A : Charity Begins at Home : After Four Decades of Volunteer Work, Ginny Mancini Is Leaving Philanthropy to Devote Time to Her Family

Ginny Mancini’s first volunteer job was working for SHARE (Share Happily and Reap Endlessly), raising money for mentally retarded children and adults.

That was 40 years ago, and since then she’s gone on to serve on the boards of the L.A. Philharmonic, the L.A. Opera, the Board of Governors of the Music Center and the Royce Center Circle at UCLA (the support group for the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts). She’s also the founder of the Society of Singers, which raises money to aid professional singers in need.

Since 1989, she’s produced and chaired the Society’s annual benefit, which has saluted Tony Martin, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald--for whom the “Ella” lifetime achievement award is named.

But after four decades of work, Mancini, 69, a former singer herself, is leaving the philanthropic world to pursue other interests. She wants to devote more time to her family, especially her husband of 46 years, composer Henry Mancini, who has cancer.

But first, she will be on hand for an April 19 “Tribute to Henry Mancini” at UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion. And on May 9, Peggy Lee will be honored by the Society of Singers, which Ginny will again co-chair and co-produce.

Sitting on the sofa of her spacious Holmby Hills home, she talks about the changes in her life.

Question: You’ve decided at this point in your life to bow out of the philanthropic work that you do. Why?

Answer: I’ve decided to take a bit of a sabbatical for personal reasons. Henry is battling a serious disease and I just feel the need to back off of the fund-raising component of my life. (These are) causes that I really believe in, and of course I will always support them. I’ve done it for 40 years and I think it’s time that I spent some quality time with my family. Our lives, for obvious reasons, are very different, suddenly.

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Q: Did it take you a long time to come to this decision?

A: Yes it did, because it’s a lifestyle that I have created for myself and it’s been very gratifying. I’m about to reach a new decade of my life as well, and I do kind of an assessment of how I want to spend the next 10 years. I want to maybe go back to school and study things that I’ve put on the back burner. I just want to do some different things.

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Q: What would you like to study?

A: Art history, and I’d like to go back to my first language, which was Spanish. I was very fluent as a child and I want to be able to get that fluency back under my belt. And I suppose if I’m going to be able to function in the next decade, I’m going to have to become more computer literate.

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Q: Why do you do these 10-year assessments?

A: I have to be sure that if I’m lucky enough to have (the time), I have to be sure that it’s spent in ways that are fulfilling. And I just need a little change of pace. Obviously, I’ve been forced into a little change of pace by the revelation of Henry’s illness. It’s such an insidious disease, but I do believe there are miracles and we pray for them.

I have to do everything in my power to remain strong and healthy. We have such a terrific family--they are so loving and supportive. We’re take-charge people. So we’ll manage. And the outpouring of love and affection (from friends and fans) has been quite extraordinary.

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Q: There’s always been a special feeling at the Society of Singers events. Even though there are hundreds of people in a huge ballroom, when the entertainment begins, the room seems much smaller and more intimate.

A: When you get singers in a room together, something magical happens. We’ve had singers here (at the house), and when everybody gathers around the piano, it’s like a religious experience.

I think that’s the feeling that’s generated at the Society of Singers. It’s contagious and it’s wonderful, and everyone goes out of there higher than a kite because it’s like they’ve been infused with joyfulness.

Not only that, but people relive moments in their lives as a singer is singing a certain song, and they can identify a time and place and a feeling instantly.

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Q: What do you get out of doing these events?

A: I think I get a feeling of gratification knowing that I’m giving back to singers who have impacted my life. I have been able to get through the depths of despair with Frank Sinatra and I have felt down and depressed with Billie Holiday. I’ve been joyous and happy with Nat Cole. It’s a way to express yourself through them. You can’t imagine your life experience without singers. So I think that’s the feeling of satisfaction I get, a feeling of repayment and appreciation.

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Q: What was your first experience in fund raising?

A: My first experience as a young woman in a volunteer situation was when I joined SHARE in 1954. That was to raise money for mentally retarded children and adults (the group now funds many other charities). I worked actively in SHARE for 25 years and became president for two years. From there, I decided to really devote myself to the arts and felt that all of my energies would be expended in that direction.

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Q: Do you think this will be a difficult adjustment for you, having spent four to five days a week working on projects and boards?

A: I will enjoy the luxury of not having to book meetings and that kind of thing. I’ll look forward to more freedom to spend time with my family. And I love my home and I want to spend more time in it than out of it. I think I’m ready. One seems to know these things.