‘Spring Break’ fundraiser for City Year Los Angeles breaks record
The event: “Spring Break: Destination Education,” staged carnival style at Sony Studios in Culver City, was a star-studded affair that had tweens, teens and their families lining up half an hour early on Saturday. The fourth annual event raised a record-breaking $1.5 million for City Year Los Angeles.
The Hollywood hosts: Shemar Moore of “Criminal Minds” posed nearly nonstop for photos, hoisting one guest on his shoulders for a shot. Julie Bowen of “Modern Family” sang the praises of City Year corps members, who devote a year of their lives to serve as tutors, mentors and role models to students who might otherwise drop out of school.
VIP hosts, many of them slipping into City Corps jackets, included Jason Bateman of “Bad Words,” Aaron Paul and Betsy Brandt of “Breaking Bad,” Jenna Elfman of “Dharma & Greg,” Octavia Spencer of “The Help” and Sean Hayes of “Will & Grace.”
The crowd: Aloe Blacc performed a mini-concert for partygoers, who included Usher, Timothy Olyphant of “Justified,” Minnie Driver of “About a Boy,” Taylor Kinney of “Chicago Fire,” Katie Lowes of “Scandal,” Chord Overstreet of “Glee,” Claire Holt of “The Originals,” singer/songwriter Christina Grimmie, Danny Pudi of “Community,” Jaimie Alexander of “Thor: The Dark World,” Jake T. Austin of “Wizards of Waverly Place,” KaDee Strickland of “American Gangster,” Isabelle Fuhrman of “Orphan,” Sarah Chalke of “Scrubs,” Diego Boneta of “Rock of Ages,” Nolan Gould of “Modern Family,” Jason Behr of “Roswell,” Hill Harper of “CSI: New York,” Jean-Luc Bilodeau of “Baby Daddy,” Teddy Sears of “Masters of Sex,” Max Schneider of “Veronica Mars,” Colin Egglesfield of “The Client List,” Angela Kinsey of “The Office,” Jake Busey of “From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series,” Greer Grammer of “Awkward,” Avan Jogia of “Twisted” and Benjamin Stockham of “Quarantine.”
Also attending were event co-chairs, who included Stacey Snider, co-chair and chief executive of DreamWorks; Ellen and Andrew Hauptman, co-chairs of Andell Holdings; Rich Battista, chief executive of Mandalay Sports Media; Robert Greenblatt, chair of NBC Entertainment; Michael Lewis, chief executive of RealD; Hannah Minghella, president of production at Columbia Pictures; David Shaheen, managing director of J.P. Morgan’s Entertainment Industries Group; and City Year Los Angeles board member Laura Fox.
The scene: Guests played video games at the Xbox One station, competed for Dodgers tickets at an Aramark apparel booth, got their hair chalked and braided by JC Penney’s stylists and participated in an abundance of other activities surrounding the commissary lawn.
Quotes of note: “It’s gratifying to me to see families come out with their teenagers and tweens, and to see that the teens and tweens are willing to come with their parents to a great party that celebrates City Year,” said Snider, who was there with her 15-year-old daughter. She added that her goal has always been to attract young people so they can see “that service is important and that service is cool.”
The numbers: More than 1,400 people packed the party, which offered tickets from $375 and specially priced packages for bigger families.
Olivier is the founder of Society News L.A.
ALSO:
City Year volunteers give students an extra way to connect
Filmmaker’s jewelry line is also a platform for ocean awareness
