Five Acres exceeds gala fundraising goal to ensure safe environment for children
Photo credit: Melissa Kobe / Five Acres
Elegant as it was memorable, Five Acres celebrated the “superheroes” it serves—children in need of permanent, loving families—at its annual fundraiser gala held during June’s National Foster Care month.
The Pasadena-based non-profit exceeded its fundraising goal to provide permanency for 10,000 children and family members in their care across Southern California.
Photo credit: Melissa Kobe / Five Acres
“Few people realize that the foster care crisis in LA directly feeds into other current societal challenges. Foster youth are much more likely to wind up homeless, unemployed, uneducated or incarcerated—all issues that our community is striving to address in 2019. More meaningfully, the sheer number of kids in foster care begs the question: if we as a progressive society can’t provide vulnerable kids with something so basic (a loving home free from abuse and neglect), how can we possibly tackle bigger problems? By addressing the root causes of why kids enter the system and intervening when needed, we not only help children in 2019 but lay the foundation for a healthy community tomorrow.”
Photo credit: Melissa Kobe / Five Acres
The event
Nearly 300 supporters walked a red carpet to join a poolside reception with delectable hors d'oevres, premium open bar, and a charming lemonade stand. Guests crowded the bars for liquid reinforcements, while mingling with the crowd consisting of thought leaders and supporters passionate about children’s safety, well-being and permanency—the framework for all of Five Acres’ programs focused on effective means of caring for children and families in crisis.
Now in its 24th year, the backyard soiree was held at the home of Jennifer and Shawn McCreight and emceed by actress and director Sarah Drew of “Grey’s Anatomy.”
Photo credit: Melissa Kobe / Five Acres
Photo credit: Melissa Kobe / Five Acres
Eighty percent of Five Acres’ services focus on preventing kids from entering foster care in the first place. One of their newest programs, PHC (Private Health Care) allows them to partner with local private health care organizations across Southern California to access even more at-risk families and provide them with the support and resource linkage they need to remain together and thrive.
Photo credit: Melissa Kobe / Five Acres
Setting the mood
“As our prevention services expand, we also recognize the need for more short- and long-term foster parents to open their arms to kids in need. In addition to campaigns we’ve already launched in 2019, we’ll be introducing new initiatives to recruit and train more foster parents so that no child is without a safe haven.”
The desert oasis-themed fête encouraged guests to don their best and brightest attire, and succeeded in making everyone feel like part of the canvas: A rolling sea of vibrant colors befitting of Palm Springs, set on the grounds of a lush private estate in Pasadena, California.
Photo credit: Melissa Kobe / Five Acres
The backyard of the estate emulated the pops-of-color theme with elegant table settings, a shiny white dance floor, and a stage with large, curved screens at all sides of the venue to feature honorees who have made an impact and advanced the organization’s mission.
Photo credit: Melissa Kobe / Five Acres
Guests enjoyed a three-course dinner and a dessert bar before dancing the night away with the poolside DJ that played classic and current hits.
Photo credit: Melissa Kobe / Five Acres
Champions of change
Actor/director Matthew Lillard of “Good Girls” and “Scooby Doo”, and writer/producer/director Matt Nix of “Burn Notice” and “The Gifted” also introduced a special video the two produced for Five Acres. The video interviewed several now-adopted former foster children served by Five Acres about their ideal superpowers and brought them to life. Each gala guest received collectible superhero cards with every child’s special story included.
“We began so small—an orphanage in downtown L.A. serving just 45 children. Since then, we’ve expanded beyond orphan care to focus on family preservation, mental/behavioral health services, foster care and adoption. We’ve extended our reach to five counties in Southern California and now serve more than 9,700 kids and families. In addition, our permanency rate (our success at ensuring children have safe, permanent families) is at 83% vs. the state’s rate of around 30%. It’s a huge challenge, but it’s clear that what we do is working. The more support and awareness we have from our community, the better we can ease the foster care crisis in our cities.”
Photo credit: Melissa Kobe / Five Acres
Nick Di Nieri was at the helm as auctioneer, helping Five Acres’ exceed its fundraising goal for the night with a matching gift and significant surprise donation after the final call. Di Nieri, a foster-adoptive father himself, remarked on the importance of the gala, noting that “even if you can’t become a foster parent, everyone can do something to break the cycle of abuse and neglect for kids in need.”
The Desert Oasis was made possible in part by multiple underwriters and sponsors, including an anonymous Palm Springs sponsor; Rusnak Auto Group and Wells Fargo as Paradise Sponsors, LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger and Comerica Bank as Tech Sponsors; and Pasadena Now and Outlook Newspapers digital and print media sponsors, respectively.
Five Acres’ evaluates their impact by assessing children’s progress across safety, well-being and permanency. They look at the issues they originally had when they came to the organization and evaluate if those issues have improved or been eliminated completely by the time they leave their care.
“We’re big on using data to show not only where we’ve improved, but to identify new areas of growth and the tools to get us there. It’s this willingness to explore new avenues and adapt to our clients’ changing needs that’s kept Five Acres around for the last 131 years.”