Carol Dillon
By Andi Peterson
Thirty-five years ago, Carol Dillon wanted her children to be able to take a school bus to Our Lady of Malibu Catholic School. Instead of sitting idly by waiting for someone else to figure out how to fund a bus program, she, along with a committee of parents, started the triannual Our Lady of Malibu yard sales. Not only did the yard sales serve as a community event and a way to recycle, but they also were successful enough to fund the much-needed bus program. The extremely organized and successful yard sales more than adequately funded the program while it was needed until its replacement by the public bus system some years later.
Our Lady of Malibu yard sales have occurred every year since their inception, and each one has raised between $10,000 and $20,000. The money now goes directly to the school and the church.
Despite the current recognition surrounding her involvement for the past 35 years, Dillon remains extremely humble about being singled out as the inspiration for the yard sales.
“I feel very undeserving [of this award] because there are so many other people, too many to name, who make these yard sales happen,” Dillon said.
The yard sales now take place two times per year, down from the three per year when they first started. Dillon has particularly enjoyed watching the size and participation of the yard sales grow over the years, and has remained involved even after the six of her 11 children who attended the school graduated.
Helene Eisenberg
By Andi Peterson
When the Malibu Urgent Care Center was in danger of closing a few years ago, Helene Eisenberg realized that something needed to be done. She had been involved in health-related charities, in particular, City of Hope, for more than 30 years, and Eisenberg knew the incredible importance of keeping a center such as this one alive. “The center has been closed before, and I didn’t want to see that happen again,” Eisenberg said.
After losing a major donor, the owners of the Urgent Care Center, Dr. David Franco and Dr. Jill Ferguson, realized they were going to need help. Eisenberg stepped in and contacted Richard Scott, a Malibu attorney who helped the center secure charity status from the IRS. “Getting that status was important because it meant that the center could receive private, tax-deductible donations,” Eisenberg said. Eisenberg also gives credit to City Council Member Joan House, Congressman Brad Sherman and Malibu resident Marlene Matlow for their tireless efforts to keep the center functioning. Because of the private donations received, the center now has the funds to purchase state-of-the-art medical equipment. In addition, the center is able to remain open an extra two hours every weekday and 20 hours on the weekend.
“The center has already saved lives and I am so proud of it. It is so important to give back to the community, to give your time or your money with no strings attached,” Eisenberg said. “We are privileged here. We have good families, good health. My theory of life is that you give back when you have been given such privileges.”
Pat Greenwood
By Andi Peterson
For Pat Greenwood, volunteerism is as essential a life component as air and water. An active member in numerous city organizations and committees over the years, Greenwood now focuses her spare time and effort on the Malibu Parks and Recreation Commission, of which she was a founding member six years ago. “Recreational activities are extremely important in life, in helping to maintain a well-balanced person,” Greenwood said.
One aim of the commission is that the community remains involved in planning and receives the most benefits possible. It is currently working to create parkland in both Trancas Canyon and Las Flores Canyon. “Right now we are looking at plans for the space in Trancas Canyon. We are starting to see things come to fruition, and it is very exciting,” Greenwood said. “Our main focus right now is to create playing fields for our kids because there is a dramatic deficit of them in the community.” Over the years, Greenwood has been involved in or formed many other Malibu organizations, including the Malibu Junior Tennis League, the successful 1991 Cityhood Committee, the 1984 Malibu Olympic Neighbors Committee and the Malibu Recreation Council that raised funds to build the pool at what is now Malibu High School, to name a few.
“It’s very important to give back to your community,” Greenwood said. “When our family moved to Malibu, I noticed that there were not a lot of organized activities for my kids, so I just got involved.” That was 30 years ago, and since then, she has remained an active force in city life.
Lilly Lawrence
By Jonathan Friedman
Lilly Lawrence contributed a great deal to Malibu even before she officially took residency approximately a year-and-a half ago. Living atop Malibu in the city’s only castle, Lawrence has dedicated her time and money to many causes.
She has helped the Malibu Film Festival by contributing financially and hosting the festival’s party. Lawrence is also a supporter of Heal the Bay and the Malibu Clean Water Program, with which she has adopted a storm drain to ensure that only noncontaminated water run-off enters the city’s drains and into the ocean. One can see Lawrence’s banner along Pacific Coast Highway near the Malibu Pier that reads, “Cleaner Water and Cleaner Oceans.”
Lawrence’s dedication to charity and service has been a part of her life since the beginning. Lawrence, who was born in the southern tip of Iran and educated in England, said her parents, Dr. Reza and Mahin Fallah, influenced her. Her father was a wealthy oilman, but he and his wife always found time to give to the community. During her lifetime, Lawrence has been a supporter of American labor causes, oftentimes standing alongside strikers from various industries from meat packing to farming. During the recent grocer’s strike, she brought sandwiches to the workers.
During her spare time, Lawrence enjoys going to the beach and other fun activities. She is also always busy beautifying her castle, which she bought seven years ago. In that time, she says her castle has gone from a “small caterpillar to a big beautiful butterfly.”
Kiwanis Club of Malibu
By Jonathan Friedman
The Kiwanis Club of Malibu is responsible for the city’s most popular charity event, the Chili Cook-Off. The event’s revenue goes to various Malibu youth programs. “You won’t find anything that affects kids in the community that is not supported by the Kiwanis Club,” said Paul Grisanti, a charter member and president from 2001-2002.
Robert Bauman founded the club in April 1982. Working for Santa Monica Bank, he was required to join a service club. Finding the existing ones in Malibu unsatisfying, Bauman decided to start one. The club had 99 original members, the most ever for a charter club in Malibu. Another unique factor to Malibu Kiwanis was its young membership, with most of the people being between 30 and 35 years of age.
In September 1982, Keith Crummer, also a charter member, agreed to lend his property for the first Chili Cook-Off. The event has continued to be a Malibu Labor Day extravaganza, even after the property was taken over by the Malibu Bay Co. In the 1980s, the Kiwanis Club of Malibu had the highest revenue of all the Kiwanis Clubs in the world. Over the years, the club has paid for most of the marquee signs at the local schools, helped to get ball fields built and supported all of Malibu’s youth programs. It also supports a program called School on Wheels, an organization begun in Malibu in which volunteers tutor homeless children.
The Kiwanis Club meets three Thursdays a month at Guido’s Malibu at 7 p.m.
Scott Robinson
By Ashley King
Scott Robinson has been involved with the Boys and Girls Club for 40 years. Robinson started seven branches in the Santa Monica area before he retired, but was called upon in a nationwide search for a director for the Malibu Boys and Girls Club.
Robinson has strived to reach out to Malibu teens to help them find something that works for them and gives a positive alternative for activities and a positive outlook.
“As a teen, I went through some trying years, teen issues, and the Boys and Girls Club was there for me and guided me through those years,” Robinson said.
As the director of the Malibu Boys and Girls Club for more than 10 years, Robinson’s final two years have been focused on a satellite outreach program. “My favorite part about my job is absolutely the kids’ lives,” Robinson said. “Seeing them changing through relationships and being embraced as part of the community.”
The Boys and Girls Club strives to provide programming that will follow the youth and support them in areas along with, but not centered on, academic programming. The club, located at Malibu High School, has 50 percent of the 1,200 students at the school as members.
Robinson said of the time he gives to the club, “I want to give back and put passion into the youths’ lives and help support their dreams and goals.”
Saint John’s Health Center
By Tracy Domingo
When it comes to the act of helping people in need, Saint John’s Health Center is no stranger. But when it comes to going above and beyond the call of duty, Saint John’s is well rehearsed in that, too.
Approximately six years ago, it was brought to the attention of the Santa Monica-stationed center that the welfare of the community of Malibu was jeopardized because many local medical centers were running a high risk of closure.
Saint John’s then decided to undertake an analysis of the Malibu Urgent Care Center to get a better understanding as to what could be done to help. What it found was that the Malibu area was in dire need of a reliable healthcare facility. So, Saint John’s, being a community-and-mission-based center, took its analysis a step further and decided to take on the expensive task of keeping the center open on a constant basis. Consequently, when other care centers in Malibu went bankrupt and closed, Malibu Urgent Care Center stayed open to serve the community, thanks to Saint John’s.
“The urgent care center has provided a very reliable source of good medical service for the community,” said Robert Klein, the Saint John’s Health Center representative and a member of Friends of Malibu Urgent Care. “Now families that live in Malibu feel more secure that there is a place they can to and get into on a much more consistent basis.”
Jane Seymour
By Tracy Domingo
Jane Seymour, more commonly known as the ‘Medicine Woman,’ is a person of many accomplishments and is actively involved in many laudable charitable associations.
Seymour, a longtime Malibu resident and artist, is an active supporter and honorary chairperson for City Hearts, an organization that provides free arts and education programs to at-risk impoverished children. In fact, she once opened up her Malibu home on Super Bowl Sunday for the annual City Hearts truffle dinner, a fundraiser that raised more than $100,000 for the organization.
Seymour said, in a previous Malibu Times article, that giving the gift of arts to children is truly priceless.
“Through the safe haven of the arts, kids are able to create something that is positive and enriching in their day-to-day lives,” she said. “This is a priceless lesson that I feel privileged to be a part of.”
In addition, Seymour has been an avid supporter of Childhelp USA and received the “Woman of the World” humanitarian award in 1990 from the organization. She also donated her time and presence to the 30th annual Malibu Arts Festival as honorary host, where she exhibited for the first time her oils, landscapes, impressionist paintings and portraits of her children.
Kathy Wisnicki
By Tracy Domingo
As if raising two kids wasn’t already a tough job; Kathy Wisnicki is not only a very well accomplished scholar with a master’s in psychology and a doctorate in research methods and applied statistics, but also an active advocate for children’s education.
Wisnicki moved to the area in 1996 and has been working to make sure that children are getting the best schooling they can in Malibu ever since.
“I saw this school district as a chance that I could make a difference to help make sure the schools are the best they can be,” she said. “Every child deserves a chance at a great public education, and our schools are the best opportunity for them to achieve that.”
Wisnicki serves on the executive council for the Malibu Foundation for Youth and Families, the executive boards of the Malibu High PTSA and the SMMUSD PTA council, and was the Malibu chairperson for the Measure S campaign, which passed last June.
“We really rallied the community behind the measure,” she said. “Regardless of our political views, we all rallied around education.”
However, regardless of the number of accomplishments she has made in her passion for children’s education, she said her shining accomplishment is raising her two children, Jake and Julia.