On February 8, 2020, over 1,100 community leaders, philanthropists and grateful families came together to usher in a new decade of hope for CHOC. The CHOC Gala, now in it’s 12th year, raised over $4.2 million (and counting!) for the patients and families of our community. Here are some of the highlights from that spectacular night.
Opening the gala, former CHOC patients performed a poem and original music describing their mental health journey. It focused the night on what CHOC has pledged to do, commit to pediatric mental health care. CHOC’s Mental Health Initiative has grown to include a mental health inpatient center, a facility exclusively dedicated to the treatment of children ages 3-17, and other services like outpatient care, community outreach and more.
Chaired by Niloofar Fakhimi, Monica Furman and Adrienne Matros, Psy.D., the night featured stories from CHOC physicians and staff about why mental health is so important to the community. And we are happy to say that the community responded. With over $1.5 million raised during the Gala’s mission moment, and 9 live auction items to close the night, this year’s gala was a resounding success.
The night also celebrated the generosity of the William Gross Family. Recently, the Gross Family Foundation donated over $7 million to CHOC in order to expand the small baby unit (SBU) as well as elevate care within the neonatal intensive care unit. As the CHOC Champion Awardees, Jeff and Jenny Gross, spoke about what CHOC meant to them and their family. “We’re thrilled to support CHOC and their efforts to improve care for the tiniest, most fragile newborns in our region through the expansion of their Small Baby Unit. CHOC changes many lives every day and is truly a world class children’s hospital. We’re honored to be a part of it,” says Jeff Gross.
For the grand finale, there was a live performance by Grammy Award-winning group, Lady Antebellum. Their 75 minute set included fan favorites and new music off their new album, Ocean.
We want to give a huge thank you to our sponsors of the evening, including Hyundai Hope on Wheels, Hyundai Motor America, and Brett, Blake, Keani, and Jake. We also want to congratulate the Gala committee who put in so much hard work to make this event possible.
For more photos from the event, click here!
