The Malibu community united once again for the eleventh year in a row with the Children’s Lifesaving Foundation to create another magical year and holiday for the needy children of Los Angeles.
Our Camp Enrichment Program at the Circle X Ranch served over 2,200 homeless and at-risk children and their families in 2004, and will continue again in the spring for the twelfth year in a row.
Our holiday celebrations began at the House of Blues on Thanksgiving Day, where over 1,000 homeless friends from Los Angeles area shelters joined us for dinner. This day was fully funded by the House of Blues, and their staff and cooks completely donated all of their time and energy.
The entire Malibu community soon gathered together to donate more than 1,000 gifts, toys and clothing through toy drives at local schools. Local friends, families and businesses also joined forces to purchase special wish list gifts for the CLF Adopt-A-Family program.
In addition, five incredible holiday parties were held each weekend in December at Juan Cabrillo and Webster Elementary Schools’ auditoriums, where over 600 children and their families attended and were treated to catered breakfasts, lunches from In-and-Out Burger, Weinerschnitzel, and Monrose Catering.
Special thanks also goes out to terrific friends and volunteers: Marla and Jeffrey Michaels, Lisa & Bill Curtis, Cha-Cha and Mark Weinstein, Mark Kramer, Mario Arevalo and Julie Trejos, Janine McEuen and family, Janna Pakkonen, Kathleen O’Conner, Becky Millici, Kate Stubbe, Ellen and John Poyer, Eric Jorgensen, Patrick McCaffery, Carol Feikls, Maude Ann Sunderland, Monica Livingston, Emilie Fritz and other friends from Pepperdine University, and finally, Kelly Privette and the staff of Camp Joan Mier, for graciously allowing the CLF use of their art room and cabins to wrap and store the presents.
I am deeply grateful to each and every one of you for your wonderful generosity, and your love. Together with our own families, we have all created an extended Foundation Family, which includes thousands of beautiful children and their parents.
As we celebrate our Twelfth Year Anniversary together, we know that we will continue to make choices together which will honor the best part of ourselves, and those children and families we serve. You are all my angels.
Maria D’Angelo
CEO and president
The Children’s Lifesaving Foundation