STARRY STARRY NIGHT GALA BENEFITING VOICES FOR CHILDREN TO BE HELD SEPTEMBER 28, 2013 AT RANCHO VALENCIA RESORT
CO-CHAIRS OF THE EVENT ARE LISETTE & MICHAEL FARRELL AND ANNETTE & DAN BRADBURY
(April 11, 2013) San Diego, CA-The signature event of Voices for Children (VFC) since 2002, Starry Starry Night is an elegant and fun evening under the stars, benefiting the 5,600 foster children of San Diego County. Last year’s gala grossed $1.2 million and was considered one of San Diego’s premier fundraising events. Co-chairing the 11th annual event in 2013 are Lisette and Michael “Mick” Farrell and Annette and Dan Bradbury. All proceeds benefit VFC, which is a private, nonprofit organization that recruits, trains, and supervises Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) to advocate for the abused, abandoned, and neglected children living in San Diego County’s foster care system.
Starry Starry Night will be held at the beautiful Rancho Valencia Resort in Rancho Santa Fe, where last year the event was the resort’s first local charity fundraiser since its top-to-bottom renovation. In 2013, the evening will begin with an elegant cocktail hour, followed by a gourmet dinner served al fresco-the menu created by Eric Bauer, the award-winning chef at Rancho Valencia. An exciting live auction will be followed by musical entertainment and dancing under the canopy of stars, surrounded by the Mediterranean landscape of the resort.
“The CASA volunteers of Voices for Children are extraordinary, and we are proud to be able to raise funds to support them,” said Lisette Farrell, a member of the VFC Board of Directors. “Our CASAs make sure that children in foster care have their voices heard-in Court, in schools, and in the community.” Annette Bradbury concurred, “We hope that Starry Starry Night will not only educate our guests about the needs of foster children, but will inspire them to contribute generously to a wonderful cause.”
VFC President and CEO Sharon M. Lawrence expressed her hopes for Starry Starry Night 2013. “Now in its eleventh year, this has grown into one of our community’s most anticipated galas, grossing over $1 million the last two years. All net proceeds help us recruit volunteers from throughout the community, train them to the highest professional standard, and then assign them to foster children for whom they will serve as court advocates. This is an extraordinary group of individuals-1,000 CASA volunteers serving on the front lines of the foster care system and helping transform the lives of thousands of children. The success of Starry Starry Night is vital to the success of Voices for Children, and we are delighted to be working with Lisette, Mick, Annette, and Dan to create our most memorable event ever.”
Tables and tickets for Starry Starry Night are anticipated to sell out early, and go on sale July 1, 2013. Honorary Committee membership, sponsorships, and underwriting opportunities (with significant recognition benefits) are available now. For information on supporting Starry Starry Night, contact Jill Jones Mason at (858) 598-2222 or JillJ@speakupnow.org. For more information, visitwww.ssn2013.org.
STARRY STARRY NIGHT 2013 CO-CHAIRS
Lisette Farrell holds a Master of International Management degree from Thunderbird School of Global Management in Arizona, an MBA from INCAE in Costa Rica, and a Bachelor of Art in Marketing (Magna cum Laude) from Universidad Santa Maria La Antigua in her native Panama. She has work experience in strategic planning, marketing, and business development. Most recently, she was at Visa International where she was Manager for the Consumer Credit Products for the Latin America and Caribbean Region. Before Visa, Lisette worked at several banks and financial institutions. Lisette has been a member of the Voices for Children Board of Directors since 2011, and currently chairs the Marketing Committee. In March 2013, Michael J. (“Mick”) Farrell became Chief Executive Officer of ResMed, a leading developer, manufacturer, and marketer of products for the diagnosis and treatment of sleep-disordered breathing. Mick had served in a number of other senior posts since he joined the company in 2000. Prior to that, he worked in management consulting and biotechnology, as well as in chemicals and steel manufacturing at Arthur D. Little, Genzyme Corporation, The Dow Chemical Company, and BHP Billiton. He is a Board member of the La Jolla Playhouse, the Museum of Photographic Arts, the New Children’s Museum, and the American Association for Homecare. Raised in Australia, he holds a Bachelor of Engineering with first-class honors from the University of New South Wales, a Master of Science in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Currently, the Farrells are members of the Contemporary Collectors at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, and Director’s Circle members of the Museum of Photographic Arts. They also co-chaired a successful gala for the New Children’s Museum. They live in La Jolla with their two children.
Annette Bradbury is a pharmacist and community volunteer. She served on The Gillispie School’s Board of Trustees from 2006-2012 and led the Board during the independent school’s recent successful $4.5 million Endowment for Excellence in Teaching campaign. She is currently a member of the La Jolla-based philanthropic organization, Las Patronas. Between 1985 and 2000, she held various pharmaceutical positions at companies and hospitals in San Diego, the United Kingdom, and the United Arab Emirates. She received her Bachelor of Pharmacy with honors in 1984 from London University, and her Professional Certificate in Clinical Trial Design & Management in 1999 from UCSD. A native of England, Annette has lived in La Jolla for 18 years with her husband and two children. Dan Bradbury is a Life Sciences Executive with over 30 years of experience creating and implementing strategies that transform businesses, bring novel medicines to market, and maximize shareholder value. He is the Managing Member of BioBrit, LLC, a Life Sciences Consulting and Investment Firm. Dan is the former President, CEO, and Director of Amylin Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego and focused on metabolic diseases. During his 18-year tenure at Amylin, the company launched three first-in-class medicines, including the first once-a-week therapy to treat diabetes, and was listed on the Nasdaq 100. Before joining Amylin, Dan worked in marketing and sales roles for 10 years at SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals. He serves on a number of corporate and advisory boards, as well as the Keck Graduate Institute Board of Trustees, UCSD Rady School of Management Advisory Council and the University of Miami’s Innovation Corporate Advisory Council. He received a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Nottingham University and a Diploma in Management Studies from Harrow and Ealing Colleges of Higher Education in the United Kingdom. The Bradburys have been long-time supporters of Voices for Children, as well as many other organizations, including JDRF, ADA, and UCSD.
ABOUT VOICES FOR CHILDREN
For 33 years, Voices for Children has advocated for the rights and well-being of San Diego County’s abused children in the courtroom, in school, and in the community, primarily through our Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program. Our mission is to transform the lives of children who have been taken into foster care for their own safety. By monitoring their court cases, and through the advocacy of trained volunteer CASAs, VFC ensures that the judge on the case has current and pertinent information when making decisions about a child’s living situation, visits with siblings, medical and educational needs, and other services.
Voices for Children depends almost completely on private contributions and is dedicated to helping foster children-advocating for them to find their “forever families” and beat the odds of failure that haunt so many former foster youth. VFC’s volunteer Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASAs) go through extensive training before being sworn in by a judge and are in many ways the court’s eyes and ears for the most difficult foster cases. Much more than mentors, VFC volunteers serve as a “voice” for children in court and give recommendations to the judge so that the very best decisions can be made for the life of every child.
Voices for Children launched Starry Starry Night in 2002 to raise money for the agency’s CASA Program. The goal in Fiscal Year 2012-13 is to have more than 1,000 CASAs advocating for 1,735 foster children. However, with more than 5,000 children living in foster care in San Diego County today, we need to expand so we can provide a CASA volunteer to every child who needs one. Sharon Lawrence, President and CEO of Voices for Children, explained, “This is why Voices for Children and its Board of Directors established our Serve Every Child vision-to double the number of children served by 2016. To accomplish this requires broad support from the community to recruit more volunteers and fund their training and supervision. The net proceeds from Starry Starry Night impact the lives of San Diego’s abused and neglected children by supporting the work of our volunteer CASAs, who are the heart of our organization.”
For more information about Voices for Children, to inquire about becoming a CASA volunteer, or to make a donation, please visit www.speakupnow.org.
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