KC West was the Summa Children’s Foundation’s first president and presently serves on the board of directors. She owns her own business, which tracks housing interests across the country, and resides in Los Angeles.
Though two years have passed since the Summa Children’s Foundation’s inaugural gala, the aftereffects of that night still linger. For one thing, the evening’s honoree—Hollywood business manager and philanthropist Laura Lizer Word—has now joined our ranks, assuming the role of SCF president. For another, we continue to hear about the many ways in which grant funds have met critical needs of so many worthy causes.
So even as plans proceed for the next gala, A Night of Inspiration in April, we take a moment to remember that night in November 2005 that changed so many lives—including our own.
The Beverly Hills Hotel’s Crystal Ballroom was filled to capacity with 400-plus guests who mingled with benefactors and beneficiaries alike and thrilled to performances by Debbie Allen Dance Academy dancers. At the live auction, emcee Paul Reiser and Fred Willard cheerfully ran riffs and coaxed bids to the tune of $45,000, bringing the evening’s proceeds to $450,000. Special guests Sidney Poitier, Shirley MacLaine, Jackie Collins, Leonard Maltin, Frank Robinson, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Bruce Jenner added still more star power.
“Even as plans proceed for the next gala, we take a moment to remember a night in November 2005 that changed so many lives, including our own.”
Yet there was a point when the show almost didn’t go on. Hurricane Katrina in late August was followed a few weeks later by the Pakistan earthquake, and fundraising to help victims of these two disasters was quickly creating “donor exhaustion” for even long-established charities— and we were less than six months old.
“We considered for a moment rethinking our event,” says SCF Founder Jim Miles, “and ultimately we did. We decided to do more.” So with that, he and Co-Founder Brian Werdesheim earmarked a portion of the night’s funds for the Red Cross’s Katrina relief.
When the gala came to a close, guests were surprised by an unusual sight for a Hollywood event. An emergency preparedness “gift sack” loaded with water, flashlights, food and blankets—quite the contrast from the typical designer gift bag of expensive goodies—awaited them at the door. Unusual, yet somehow very appropriate.
But the best was still to come. Three months later, we wrote the checks, distributing nearly $300,000 to 10 area nonprofit organizations serving at-risk, underprivileged and disadvantaged children. We can’t wait to do it again.