Hearts Were Warm, Cold Cuts Hot at Newport Beach Benefit

The Newport Beach home of Todd Rawleigh was the setting for a benefit held recently on behalf of Barbara Jernigan, 49, a victim of primary biliary cirrhosis, a chronic disease that slowly destroys some of the liver’s bile ducts.

To survive, the Newport Beach resident must undergo a liver transplant.

To raise the $140,000 required for the procedure, 200 of Jernigan’s friends gathered at Rawleigh’s home to participate in a raffle, pledge-making and an impromptu auction of a platter of leftover cold cuts. Proceeds were estimated at $16,000.

Television game show host Tom Kennedy, a guest at the benefit, auctioned the platter off for a cool $1,000 to Cathy and Rick Byers, who plunked down the cash for what guests dubbed “the most expensive morning-after snack in the county.”

Also among those at the gathering were Tom Armistead, Parke and Sandy Bryan, Barbara Cockerell, Jack Crawford, Helga Mateus, M. William Dultz, Arthur Engstrom, Ray Garra, Francine Garton, William T. Hayes, Bud Hogberg, Kathryn Logan, Maggie Mellin, Linda Osgood, Drew Renner, Bojie Rusch, Carole Ann Smith, Ray and Grace Vincente, Claude and “C-C” Whitney and Kathy Wilson.