Good Sports Go for a Super Cause

The event: Eighth Annual Super Bowl Party, hosted by John and Donna Crean at their Village Crean estate in Santa Ana Heights. The party on Sunday benefited the Juvenile Connection Program (JCP) of the Coalition for Children, Adolescents and Parents in Orange.

Couch potato heaven: Sports fans watched the Denver Broncos beat the Atlanta Falcons on big-screen TVs set up throughout the antebellum-style mansion. Many found the party’s live entertainment more exciting: Guests were serenaded by two barbershop quartets, the Finely Four and Midlife Crisis, and the Newport Harbor High School marching band.

Circulating in the crowd were some of the Creans’ longtime Hollywood friends, including actress Jane Withers. Withers started in show business at age 2 and got her big break in the 1934 movie “Bright Eyes” with Shirley Temple.

“John and Donna are like family to me,” Withers said. “I’ve known them for 25 years, and I’d go to the end of the moon for them.”

Making the connection: The Juvenile Connection Program is designed to keep children out of the corrections system by diagnosing the cause of their behavioral problems--from undiagnosed hearing or vision problems to family conflicts--before they escalate.

Often children are referred to the program after acting out in school or at home. The JCP meets with the child and the family, then connects them to low-cost services such as counseling. “We can prevent the child from becoming an institutional child,” said Margreta Klassen, program director.

Quote: “A lot of these parents have no professionals to call if their child gets into trouble. We’re the friend on the other end of the phone,” said Cynthia Scheinberg, executive director of CCAP/JCP. “If you’re rich or poor, we’ll find resources for you.”

Faces: Sandra Morse Gould, who played Mrs. Kravitz on the ‘60s sitcom “Bewitched”; actresses Ann Blyth and Gale Storm Masterson; comedian Stan Freeberg; actor Peter Mark Richman; Tony Anselmo, the voice of Donald Duck for 15 years; and Michael Schumacher, chief of the Orange County Probation Department and JCP board member.

Bottom line: The party was expected to net more than $30,000 for the JCP’s operating expenses. Last year the program served 1,800 children; the diagnosis process is free, and costs of referred services such as counseling are based on the family’s ability to pay.

How to connect: In addition to the Juvenile Connection Program, CCAP offers classes in English, Spanish and Vietnamese for the parents of adolescents, and sex-education programs for parents and children. For information call CCAP at (714) 972-4859.