Awarding the giving spirit

Lolita Harper

COSTA MESA -- Major players in local business, government, education

and nonprofit circles gathered Friday to honor the achievements of

outstanding leaders in Costa Mesa and remind others of the importance of

community service.

Giving back was a recurring theme throughout the 2002 Hall of Fame

Awards, presented by the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce and the South

Coast Metro Alliance at the Hilton Costa Mesa. More than 130 people

attended the annual event to congratulate recipients in three categories:

Individual achievement, corporate leadership and community spirit.

Terry Goldfarb-Lee -- whose colleagues described her as tireless and

graceful -- received the Individual Achievement award for her service to

numerous nonprofit profit organizations, including the Orange County

Performing Arts Center and Human Options.

The director of business development for the Resources Connection said

she was humbled by the award but accepted it “selfishly.”

“Making a difference is a gift to myself,” Goldfarb-Lee explained. “It

makes my heart full. It makes my life full.”

Paul Folino, who walked away with the corporate leadership award, was

equally as passionate about philanthropy but had a more practical view of

community involvement.

“This is just good business,” said Folino, the president and chief

executive of Emulex Corporation.

As a corporate leader it is his job to recruit and retain good people,

he said. He can easily attract high quality employees to a community like

Orange County, so it only makes sense to invest time and money to make it

better.

Folino also sits on several nonprofit profit boards including the

south Coast Repertory Theatre, Chapman University and Project Tomorrow.

If commitment to the community is an integral part of his business

strategy, it has proven to be a successful one, as Emulex holds the

number one worldwide market in share and fiber channel host bus adapters.

Last, but certainly not least, Vanguard University secured the

Community Spirit award for its longtime commitment to educating the

leaders of tomorrow and instilling in them scholarship, leadership and

service.

Costa Mesa City Manager Allan Roeder, who emceed the event, described

the university as a “center of faith, education and energy that permeates

well beyond the boundaries” of its campus.

Murray Dempster, president of Vanguard University accepted the award

and lobbied the audience for a generous philanthropist like Folino -- who

has contributed generously to Chapman University -- to adopt his

university.

“Obviously Folino has been taken but we’re looking for one. Feel free

to contact me after this,” Dempster joked.

Seriously, he touted the partnerships between educational

institutions, businesses and local leaders as the key to success in any

venture.

Roeder ended the event with words of encouragement.

“We’ve been given examples to follow. Let’s go do it.”

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .