Saturday night.
Hi, ho, and off we go to Beverly Hills with its Grand Ballroom in The Beverly Wilshire, where catering director James Cutfield and his on-the-ball staff welcome all with sturdy drinks and a delicious dinner. We joined the supporters of Caritas 2016, an annual gala during this autumn harvest season.
In its 29th year, the Caritas evening is presented by the Irene Dunne Guild in behalf of the Saint John’s Health Center Foundation.
A sophisticated comedienne of flawless beauty and inborn elegance, Irene sparred with snappy wit opposite Cary Grant on the silver screen. Also endeared herself to family audiences with her humane roles (1948’s I Remember Mama).
Irene’s legacy is long remembered with her devotion and bequests to Saint John’s Health Center. She was honored with the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors in 1988, a grand weekend we attended where she was acclaimed with accolades and adoration from the Washingtonian power players.
Now, about Saint John’s. At the time of the powerful 1992 Southern California earthquake with its 7.3 rating on the Richter scale, Dr. Mark Kelly lamented that “the mother ship has been damaged.” From that day forward, we’ve bowed to Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica as our “mother ship.”
At the Caritas Gala, Marcel Loh, the Chief Executive of Saint John’s and the John Wayne Cancer Institute, shared the thrilling stories of miraculous healings attributed to the doctors and medical staff of the mother ship. He informed that U.S. News & World Report “gave us top ranking for knee replacements, hip replacements, and congestive heart failure.”
He discussed the successful clinical trials, and “commitment of community support for the uninsured and low income residents, also a comprehensive wellness program for the homeless.”
“We all have friends. Some come and go in our lives. Others endure,” offered Robert Klein, Foundation president /CEO as he presented the “Spirit of Saint John’s Award” to the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation graciously accepted by Kathleen McCarthy Kostlan. The daughter of the Leavey Foundation founders, Kathleen’s acknowledged as a ”stand by your side” trouper to Saint John’s.
Six-time Olympic champion Joanna Hayes presented an award to athlete Allyson Felix, and Jennifer Beals accepted the 2016 Caritas Award. Vocalist Allison Porter entertained. Serving as the evening’s co-chairs were Judy Beck and Kathy Yawitz.
A pleasure visiting during dinner with Foundation vice president of “principal gifts” Andy Trilling, surgeon Dr. Amanda Baker, Saint John’s hardest-working and glamorous Coco Garcia and Irene Bristol with colleague Anthony Cacace, and Saint John’s loyalist Bernadette Romano in jazzy silver sequins.
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Isn’t it time to say sayonara to the electoral college? Please think hard about this.
Lying, and more lying that is never ending – and yet! – will it reward – shocking as this is – history’s guiltless liar of liars with the keys to the White House?
Will we then ever know the truth?