Glenn and Mindy Stearns Honored By Youth Homes and Family Services

The Stearns' Receive 2006 Mentor Award at Centennial Gala Football great John Elway, TV personalities Michaela Pereira, Carlos Amezcua, Kate Linder and Giselle-Fernandez- Farrand are among Mentors Gala guests.

Los Angeles, Calif., November 1, 2006 -- Glenn and Mindy Stearns were honored for their support of Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services, which capped its Centennial celebration by generating a total of $220,000 at its annual Mentors Gala fundraiser.

The honorees were Glenn and Mindy Stearns of Newport Beach, Larry and Barbara Moore of Rolling Hills, and Ona and Phil Wexler of Pacific Palisades who were feted Oct. 25 at the Biltmore Millennium Hotel event attended by more than 300 supporters, and was principally sponsored by Union Bank.

With its main campus located in the Highland Park section of Los Angeles, Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services is known as one of Southern California’s most progressive non-profit agencies dedicated to rehabilitating adolescents in the juvenile justice system and providing the foundation for employment and independent living.

“Glenn and Mindy have demonstrated a dedication to our organization that demands we recognize their generosity with the utmost enthusiasm,” said Sil Orlando, executive director of the agency. “Without people of their commitment and vision, the young boys and girls we care for would have far fewer opportunities to lead normal lives.”

The coveted 2006Mentor Award went to Glenn and Mindy Stearns, founders of the Stearns Family Charitable Foundation, which provides support to children born into dysfunctional, abusive and violent households by providing grants and other resources to children’s charities like Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services. Mindy is a mother and TV personality, while Glenn owns more than 20 companies with combined sales of more than $1.5 billion.

Michaela Pereira, co-host of “The KTLA Morning Show,” emceed the gala, while Kate Linder, star of the daytime serial “The Young and the Restless,” hosted the live auction.

Special guests included John Elway, Super Bowl-winning quarterback of the Denver Broncos, Carlos Amezcua, co-host of “The KTLA Morning Show,” and entertainer Giselle Fernandez-Farrand, a previous host of the KTLA program, where Mindy Stearns (nee Burbarno) was the entertainment reporter.

Chair of the dinner committee was Carole Henry-Sigmon of Lomita, a sales executive at Moore & Associates.

Founded in 1906, Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services serves more than 550 children and parents each week. One hundred teenage boys live on its Highland Park campus, where it operates a non-public, fully accredited high school and extensive vocational training program. It also operates a foster care and adoption agency, six group homes for boys and girls and provides comprehensive mental health services to community youth and their families.
For more information about the Youth Optimist Homes, please go to: www.oyhfs.org

About Stearns Family Charitable Foundation:

The Stearns Family Charitable Foundation, founded by Orange County’s Glenn and Mindy Stearns (www.glennandmindy.com), is dedicated to helping disadvantaged youth reach their full potential. The Stearns Family Charitable Foundation supports organizations such as Canyon Acres Youth and Family Services, Crisis Pregnancy Organization, and Celebrity Fight Night. The couple, who in 2004 took home the winning prize on the TBS television show “The Real Gilligan’s Island”, donated and matched all winnings to the Stearns Family Charitable Foundation. Since then, the Foundation remains committed to providing support and development to troubled youth.

About Celebrity Fight Night:

The growth and success of the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center over the years is due in part to the Celebrity Fight Night Foundation. The center celebrated its 16th year in 2005. It is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations. The Center provided diagnostic and treatment services, research, and education for those whose lives have been touched by Parkinson’s disease. The center also conducts extensive research in new medical and surgical treatments for Parkinson’s disease and related disorders. 

Each year dozens of celebrity guests attend the event that has raised more than $38 million dollars in twelve years.  Official sponsors of this great event included CA, Mortgages Ltd., American Airlines, Sentient Jet, POST Magazine and Best Life.

Celebrity Fight Night was started in 1994 to raise money for local charities through a celebrity charity event. Each year, under the direction of founder Jimmy Walker, Celebrity Fight Night attracts celebrities from sports and entertainment. He and many others participate in putting together this exciting event. www.celebrityfightnight.com