Joining together for the greater cause

B.W. COOK

One of the most important aspects of this community is its

willingness to join forces to effect positive change on behalf of

important causes.

A group of Corona del Mar High School parents have come together

and created the Community School Partnership to fund programs that

are specifically designed to promote tolerance and respect.

OK, it sounds “touchy-feely.” Tolerance and respect, however, are

two significant ingredients that are lacking in our community, our

nation and our world. We ask ourselves, how can we expect our

children to develop the values that embrace tolerance and respect if

parents do not demonstrate a path for the younger generation to

follow.

The Community School Partnership was founded and organized by Lucy

Steinberg, wife of sports agent Leigh Steinberg. Lucy Steinberg’s

mission began with the purpose of combating bullying in the schools,

and going one step further to assist in conflict resolution and to

promote resilience among school children who have been the objects of

the bully.

“These programs have proven to be a lifesaver for children that

often do not have a voice expressing their feelings,” said Cyndie

Borcoman, a member of the Community School Partnership Foundation.

The parents involved recently hosted a celebration at the Newport

Coast home of Dave and Laurie March. In keeping with the theme of

teaching tolerance, organizers created an award they call “The Peter

Biehl Memorial Peace Award.” The late Peter Biehl and his widow,

Linda Biehl, are the parents of the late Amy Biehl, who was murdered

in South Africa a decade ago while working for peace in the region.

At the celebration the award was presented to Peter Yarrow of the

famous folk group “Peter, Paul and Mary.” Yarrow’s daughter Bethany

also received the award for her work filming a documentary focusing

on the lives of five South African women.

Attending the event were Sharon Fry, principal of Corona del Mar

High School, Michael and Denise Weiland, Robyn Moss, and Paul and

Scottia Evans. Also involved were Gwen Hass, who co-chaired the event

with Lucy Steinberg, and Cyndie Borcoman.

For more information on the Community School Partnership Fund,

please contact Borcoman at (714) 543-5407.

CHILDREN’S BUREAU

The Children’s Bureau, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the

prevention and treatment of child abuse, held its 10th annual Mighty

Rubber Ducky Derby at Wild Rivers Water Park, Irvine. More than 5,000

local citizens attended a day at the water park chaired by the

dynamic Lisa Fujimoto.

The derby began a decade ago under the generous sponsorship of

John and Donna Crean as a family gathering that introduced the

Children’s Bureau to Orange County.

Donna Crean had been a loving advocate of the Children’s Bureau

Los Angeles, one of the oldest child services agencies in Southern

California, founded in 1904. Donna Crean saw the need for help in

Orange County and put her formidable influence behind raising funds

to launch the Orange County Bureau.

Over the years, the event has grown dramatically, and this year,

working with Lisa Fujimoto, a dedicated team including Neal Aton,

Lianne Harris, Bruce MacRae, Heidi Miller and Mickie Shapiro helped

to bring in a capacity crowd to watch thousands of yellow rubber

ducks float down the Wild Rivers waterway to a finish line. Racers

adopted the ducks for $10 each, with proceeds benefiting the

Children’s Bureau, and winners were given incredible prizes.

As in years past, the day included sumptuous samplings from an

array of local restaurants and plenty of water park fun for the kids.

Newport Mesa support came from Barbara Magness, Phyllis Green,

Lana Chandler, Peggy Goldwater Clay, Lori Irving, Barbara Hinshaw,

Ron Dominguez and Royal Radtke. Sponsor Washington Mutual Bank was

represented at the event by Scott Kipers.

ORANGEWOOD PALS

It was Jungle Boogie for the Orangewood Pals, an organization of

young professionals in the community working to support the children

of Orangewood.

A safari-theme fundraiser brought in $60,000 for the children at

Orangewood Children’s Home. Acrobats balanced on beams in leopard

costumes and tribal drummers with painted faces greeted the crowd as

Creme de la Creme served a dinner of jungle-inspired delicacies

including shrimp skewers, yam fries and giant chocolate cream puffs

for dessert.

In the crowd were Monica Avila, Michelle Charvonneau, Sara Parker,

Rick Bazant, Windy Drake, Phil Escalette and Karen Rasmussen.

* THE CROWD appears Thursdays and Saturdays.