Press Release

MAYOR’S GANG REDUCTION DIRECTOR AND CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT JOIN FORCES TO IMPACT YOUTH

Los Angeles, CA, October 5, 2007 – “Bids of Kids:” Dinner and Auction will be held October 5, 2007. Benefiting the Bresee Community Center, located in central Los Angeles, the gala will honor Jeff Carr, director of gang reduction and youth development programs for the city of Los Angeles, and Eric Garcetti, City Council President, for their commitment to Los Angeles youth.

According to Bresee Executive Director John Huffman, “It is an exceptional thing when you find “one” influential individual who will provide hands-on service to people in need, despite the demands of public service. It is perhaps, however, once in a generation that you find “two” so completely committed to selfless service in the same city, let alone toward the same organization. Yet that is the remarkable gift the City of Los Angeles and the Bresee Foundation have received through the lives and commitments of Eric Garcetti and Jeff Carr.”

In this role, as a deputy mayor, Carr oversees and advances all aspects of the City’s efforts to reduce gang violence and enhance opportunities for youth, as well as oversees all of the City’s gang prevention, intervention, and re-entry programs. The former executive director of Bresee, Carr has extensive experience in implementing youth development programs, and has been a catalyst for change in the surrounding low-income, central Los Angeles neighborhood through his community activism.

One of these initiatives is an ecology park adjacent to the community center, a project embarked upon in collaboration with Council Member Garcetti. “You can’t look to the stars until you’ve fixed the cracks in the sidewalk,” Garcetti often says. As the second-term councilmember serving the 13th Council District, Garcetti has shown that a commitment to the street-level health of the community is a necessary first step in creating positive change. In his district, he tackled neighborhoods' most intractable problems, doubling the number of parks, ensuring the availability of an after-school program in every school in the district, and reducing graffiti by more than 60 percent. He has continue to be a strong advocate of Bresee, not only by assisting with the park, but by helping to judge entries of our annual youth film festival.

The event will also feature a tribute to Stacia and Luc Robitaille, local champions for youth. They are the founders of two charitable foundations: "Shelter for Serenity" and "Echoes of Hope." Shelter for Serenity is dedicated to rehabilitating the lives of families affected by Hurricane Katrina by giving them new homes, new jobs, and a new future. In the spring of 2007, Stacia and Luc focused their efforts on the Bresee Foundation offering a “dreambuilders” workshop series, and through their latest venture, Echoes of Hope. Their mission is to awaken the spirit of hope in the lives of at risk, foster and emancipated youth in the Los Angeles area by providing the resources, knowledge, skills and support they need to reach their full potential. Robitaille, who recently retired from professional ice hockey in January 2007 after 19 years, is the highest scoring left wing in NHL history and the Los Angeles King’s career leader in goals.

The auction, marking the 25th anniversary of Bresee Foundation, will be held at the Universal Sheraton’s Roof Garden Room. The evening will begin at 6:30pm with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction. Dinner and the live auction will begin at 7:30pm. Items include spa packages, sports memorabilia, weekend getaways, special events packages, and artwork. The event’s major sponsors are: AEG, Majestic Realty Foundation, Wells Fargo Bank, Americo Cascella, Marcus & Millichap, QueensCare Family Clinics, and Sempra Energy.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Bresee Community Center which is primarily attended by residents living in the central Los Angeles neighborhoods of Mid- Wilshire, Koreatown, Pico/Union, Silver Lake and south Hollywood, and serves over 2,000 residents annually, primarily youth. The nearly 15,000 square-foot center includes a youth recreation center, two computer centers, two learning labs, and a family health clinic. The faith-based organization’s mission is to “offer hope and wholeness and to work toward reconciliation, empowerment, and justice in our community through basic skills development, community and youth development, health services, and urban leadership training.” Programs are open to anyone in the community, regardless of belief system.