Second Harvest and Human Options Win Disneyland Service Awards

Two Orange County nonprofit organizations--one dedicated to alleviating hunger and the other to preventing domestic violence--were the top recipients of Disneyland’s annual Community Service Awards.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County and Human Options Inc. each received $50,000 at a ceremony Thursday at Disneyland’s Fantasyland Theatre.

At this year’s Community Service Awards, created by Walt Disney in 1957, Disneyland awarded a total of $400,000 in grants to 45 organizations and programs in Orange County. Grants ranged from $5,000 to $50,000.

Disneyland Resort President Paul Pressler commended the local organizations, which he said work unselfishly to improve the quality of life for the people of Orange County.

Orange-based Second Harvest Food Bank, which feeds 180,000 people a month, received the Outstanding Award for its Brown Bag program, which provides food to needy senior citizens.

“We’re just excited to be recognized for all the work we do in the community,” said Nicole Thompson, Second Harvest development manager.

Twenty-three sites across Orange County participate in the Brown Bag program, serving 2,500 seniors, who receive a bag of groceries twice a month, Thompson said. The grant money will help to open new sites in the county, she said.

“These are individuals who are having a difficult time making ends meet,” she said. “We’re there to help bridge the gap.”

Human Options of Newport Beach received the Outstanding Award for work in preventing domestic violence.

“It’s a reinforcement that we’re heading in a direction that is really important to the community,” said Sophie Hall Cripe, director of development and marketing, said of the award.

Disneyland commended the nonprofit group for its Personal Empowerment Program, which provides women and their children information on how to stop the cycle of domestic violence, said Cindy Campbell, Human Options program director.

“This is the first time we’ve gotten money for it, so we’re thrilled,” Campbell said, adding that the grant will be used to continue the pilot program.

During each of the program’s 10-week sessions, about 180 women who are victims of domestic violence and are ordered by the court to attend receive counseling, support and education.

In other awards, the Orange County Bar Foundation in Irvine received the $26,000 Jack B. Lindquist Award, for providing legal education to prevent juvenile crime.

Other award winners include the Orange County Human Relations Council in Santa Ana, which received $17,000 for its project Bridges, A School Inter-Ethnic Relations and Violence Prevention Program.

The Hotline of Southern California, which assists people in crisis and provides information about health and human service resources, also received a $17,000 grant.