The Crowd:

This was better than attending the California Lottery Spin. The Pacific Life Foundation hosted their annual grant reception this week in Newport Beach, distributing $5.5 million to assist local organizations serving the community.

The $5.5-million figure represents Pacific Life’s grant budget for 2010. In actuality, $3.4 million was delivered Monday evening, going to more than 200 nonprofit organizations in Orange County. The remainder will be distributed later in the year.

Going to a cocktail party where someone is going to hand you a big check generally means that people are upbeat and having a good time.

Pacific Life Chairman Jim Morris joined Pacific Life Foundation Chairman Bob Haskell greeting the jubilant gathering, which included special guest Paul Leon, executive director of the Illumination Foundation. Leon received the Walter B. Gerken Community Service Award from Pacific Life, which comes with a $25,000 grant.

The Illumination Foundation works to break the cycle of homelessness in Orange County, providing housing and comprehensive services for families striving to get out of poverty and build a future life of independence. To date the Pacific Life Foundation has funded the organization with grants totaling $625,000.

Some of the other deserving organizations receiving grants included South Coast Repertory Theatre, Ocean Institute, Aquarium of the Pacific, American Red Cross, Southern California Public Radio, Mind Research Institute, Interval House and Talk About Curing Autism, to name only a few.

Established in 1984, the Pacific Life Foundation has contributed more than $57 million to nonprofits. For more information, go to www.pacificlifefoundation.com.

Coming up Tuesday, one of the most celebrated designers in the nation will visit Newport Beach on behalf of the Decorative Arts Society.

Carlton Varney will address the crowd at a 10 a.m. presentation at the Newport Stadium Theater, 300 Newport Center Drive in Fashion Island. The talented Varney, president of the Dorothy Draper Co., headquartered in New York City, leads America’s oldest interior design firm.

Varney’s clients include celebrities from the worlds of entertainment, fashion, business and politics. He restored the official vice president’s house in Washington D.C., was a consultant for the Carter Presidential Library, and has decorated some of the nation’s most glamorous hotels, including the Breakers, Palm Beach, Fla., the Plaza Hotel, New York City, the Grand Hotel Macinack Island, Mich., and the Greenbrier White Sulfur Springs, W.V.

The session with Varney begins with a breakfast buffet at 9:30 a.m. Tickets are $55 at the door and reservations may be made by e-mailing Hyla Bertea at [email protected].

The Decorative Arts Society is made up of women and men who share a passion for the art of design and channel this interest into raising funds for worthwhile community causes.

From fine fabrics to fast cars, the Crowd covers it all in Newport-Mesa. Coming up Feb. 28, Hands Together will hold its very first fundraiser celebrating a decade of anonymous behind-the-scenes, no publicity, no fanfare, grassroots work assisting the poorest families of Orange County.

Hands Together assists working families struggling to make ends meet. The mission of Hands Together is to provide high quality early education and day care for children of families where both parents must spend the day working and lack time for the necessities of childcare. A primary goal is to teach young children to be fluent in English prior to entering public school.

Headquartered in downtown Santa Ana, Hands Together has worked with more than 500 children — of which 238 have graduated from its programs — to prepare them for greater success in their individual lives.

The upcoming fundraiser will be at Don Crevier’s Classic Car showroom in Costa Mesa. The evening will feature music, dinner, cocktails and a chance to ogle at the incredible car collection on display.

Hands Together Executive Director Cyndee Albertson is soliciting donations from the community for silent auction items, including merchandise and gift certificates, that can be offered to the crowd attending the event. For more information, contact Albertson at (714) 453-8743 or HandsTogether- [email protected].

THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.