The Crowd: ‘Inception’ viewers implant some funding
One of the big summer movies is “Inception,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Last week in Newport Beach, the Hoag Hospital Foundation, The 552 Club, Warner Bros. and Regal Entertainment Group joined forces to present a private screening of the film at the Edwards Big Newport cinema.
Co-chaired by Ilona Martin and Olga Megdal, supported by honorary chairs Patti and Jim Edwards, nearly 1,000 Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian supporters turned out to enjoy summer and an al fresco dinner in Big Newport’s parking lot, followed by a screening of the film.
On hand for the fun was one of the stars of the movie, Dileep Rao, who greeted the guests and also helped with the grand prize raffle, which was a complete package vacation trip to the Four Seasons Resort Lana’i, Hawaii, valued at $10,000. Proceeds from this year’s screening will support The Hoag Cancer Center.
Major underwriters for the evening included Allan and Sally Fainbarg, Arnold Feuerstein, Bob Hogan, David Ekedal, Roger Kirwan, Margaret and Tom Larkin, Marilyn McIntyre, Geraldine Frey, the Frome family, and the Margolis family.
Honorary chairs Patti and Jim Edwards have supported the Hoag event for the past 22 years, helping to host the evening and raise funds for Hoag.
More than 30 of Orange County’s restaurants provided dinner for the crowd, which got to sample every type of culinary delight. The food choices included lobster corn dogs from 24 Carrots, sirloin sliders from Muldoon’s and Chinese chicken salad from HoSum Bistro.
Other restaurant donors were Bluewater Grill, Britta’s Café, Harborside, Lawry’s Carvery, Newport Landing, Royal Thai, and Roy’s, to name only a few.
Hoag President and Chief Executive Richard Afable addressed the crowd and thanked them for their constant and generous support of the hospital. Afable was joined by other distinguished Hoag doctors, including Robert Dillman, medical director and scientific director of Hoag Cancer Center, Melvin Silverstein, medical director of the Breast Cancer Center, and Jeffrey Yoshida, program director of the Hoag Urologic Oncology Department.
The good news is that Hoag Cancer Center reports, “The overall five year relative survival rate for patients at The Hoag Cancer Center exceeds the national figure by a full 11 percentage points.” Hoag reports that more than 3,000 newly diagnosed cancer patients seek treatment at the hospital each year, making Hoag the largest volume provider in Orange County.
Also supporting the 552 movie event and the Hoag Cancer Center were Christine Bassett, Terry Callahan, Lynn Cathcart, Corkie Lunsford, Tom and Tina Olsen, Buu Ngo, Rosalie Puleo, Rob Welbarn, Sandie Haskell, and Newport Beach design student Kevin Oxnard Veitch just returning from a year away studying at Brunel University in Uxbridge, England.
THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays. B.W. Cook is editor of the Bay Window, the official publication of the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach.
