Kids are too important for Charity Ball to skip a year
For the first time since its inception in 1909, San Diego’s Charity Ball went virtual.
“We called a special meeting of the advisory committee (made up of the past five gala chairs) in April and had a serious conversation about what we should do,” explained Gwynn Thomas, advisory committee co-chair of the 2021 program. “We considered taking a bye but decided our mission and purpose are too important. We needed to carry on the tradition.”
Since the Charity Ball debuted in 1909, it has supported health and medical needs of local children. For the past 68 years, the beneficiary of this fundraising event has been what is now called Rady Children’s Hospital.
COVID-19 was just emerging in the United States when last year’s black tie dinner/dance took place Feb. 29 in its traditional setting at the Hotel del Coronado. Thomas recalls some casual chatter that evening about this mysterious virus, but no one knew how devastating it would become. “To my knowledge, no one got the virus while attending the ball,” she says.
As always, volunteers for the 2021 gala reached out to the hospital to discover its greatest need. They were asked to support children’s behavioral health programs and services. The virus lockdown measures were taking a terrible toll on our region’s youngest residents.
So the gala committee moved forward with online invitations to a virtual event. Instead of a live gala, donors and VIP guests were invited to a Feb. 26 Zoom reception emceed by Ellen Moxham, program co-chair.
Dr. Patrick Frias, president and CEO of the hospital, told attendees that the hospital has seen an unprecedented surge in the number of children requiring treatment during the pandemic.
“It’s shocking, and it’s really sad to see,” he said. To his knowledge, earlier that
day “there were 11 children in our hospital with suicidal ideation, so it’s really been a struggle over the pandemic.”
When Dr. Ben Maxwell, the hospital’s director of inpatient psychiatry, appealed to gala donors, he described local children and teens as facing a mental health crisis. “San Diego has the highest incidence in the state of children and teens ending their lives.”
The situation was bad even before the pandemic, but health experts see the outbreak of COVID-19 causing increased incidents of child abuse and mental and behavioral health concerns.
Maxwell explained that children are experiencing mounting fear and anxiety about their health and the health of loved ones; changes in eating and sleeping patterns; fears of falling behind in school; feelings of isolation, hopelessness, frustration and anger; and increased use of alcohol, tobacco and other substances.
In 2010, 40 children in crisis a month were seen in Rady Children’s emergency department. Today that number has grown to nearly 400 children a month.
Instead of canceling the 2021 Charity Ball, the committee has raised $284,000 so far, Moxham announced. With two matching fund pledges, the event will funnel about $850,000 into the hospital’s behavioral health services.
They received the donations through publication of the gala’s annual program — in this case, a 176-page softcover book with artwork by children’s book illustator Rafael Lopez.
Molly McClain, an author and history professor at the University of San Diego, wrote a 112th anniversary history of what is referred to as San Diego’s oldest ongoing philanthropic ball. The gala was started by Harriet Sefton and her daughter, Lena, to support children’s health, and it has done so ever since.
McClain also was longtime co-editor of the San Diego History Center’s “Journal of San Diego History.” For years the center has archived Charity Ball programs, which are annual time capsules containing photos of prominent San Diegans.
Black is beautiful: Nordstrom is embracing Black Lives Matter in a creative way. The retailer is putting the spotlight on five Black designers, stylists and fashion experts. It’s featuring their ideas, visions and stories, along with 25 new product lines on Nordstrom.com and in 12 major stores, including Nordstrom in Fashion Valley.
Concept 012: Black_ Space is the name of its special in-store shop introducing the faces and bios of Black fashion gurus along with clothing lines and beauty brands to customers through early May. In addition to womenswear and menswear, merchandise includes shoes, jewelry, beauty products, sunglasses and other accessories.
Nordstrom Senior Vice President Sam Lobban, who leads the New Concepts team, says its goal is to show “the interconnectivity between fashion and culture.” It also, of course, underscores the retailer’s commitment to inclusivity and diversity.
By the end of 2025, the chain has pledged to reach $500 million in sales from brands owned, operated or designed by Black and Latinx individuals and to increase minority representation in people-manager roles by at least 50 percent. It also plans to support suppliers that reflect diversity.
In perusing the Black_Space fashion lines, I was struck by the emphasis on casual wear, which is certainly part of the COVID-19 lockdown experience. One black hoodie and T-shirt is emblazoned with the message: “Do You See Us Now.”