Quarter Masters

The event: The 14th Annual Bid for the Kids, a dinner-auction benefit for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation of Orange County. The gala, staged Saturday at the Westin South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, featured the carnival atmosphere of a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade.

Bit of Bourbon Street: Inspired by the French Quarter, party planners decorated the hotel lobby and ballroom with gas lamps, an ivy-covered wrought-iron gate and Mardi Gras beads and masks. About 450 guests wandered among tables loaded with more than 350 auction items, from baskets of Beanie Babies to an autographed “Ellen” script. Later, party-goers dined on roasted, stuffed beef filet at tables decorated with green, gold and purple masks and outbid each other at a live auction.

Bottom line: The $175-per-person event was expected to net about $180,000 for the foundation. Proceeds will go to pediatric cancer research led by Dr. Mitchell Cairo, who plans to meet regularly with the foundation after leaving Children’s Hospital of Orange County for the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University this month.

Quote: “We’re seeing a tremendous improvement in the cure for [childhood] cancer. More than 20 years ago, the cure rate for acute lymphoblastic leukemia was 20%. Now it’s 70%,” Cairo said.

Faces: Janet McNeil and Karen Packer, event co-chairwomen; Don Roberson, foundation president, and his wife, Kathi; David and Linda MacDonald; John and Joanne Mullins; Rick Whitmore; David and Lauren Parker; Pat Flanagan; Karen Murphy; Cary and Michelle Sarnoff; Jim Weisenbach; Marti Dickey; Terry and Anita Plummer; Jeff and Bonnie Dankberg; Ellen Jackson; and Laurie Riggs.

What’s ahead: The foundation is selling, at Vons and Vons Pavilions, holiday cards designed by children with cancer. For information, call (714) 854-5141.