AbilityFirst – Celebrating 80 years of serving children and adults with disabilities

NEWS

For Immediate Release

September 21, 2006 Media Contact: Joyce Huyett Turner

626.253.2814

[email protected]

Mary Beth Perrine

626.396.1010, ext. 358

32nd ANNUAL GOURMET FESTIVAL OF FALL

TO BENEFIT ABILITYFIRST

LAWRENCE L. FRANK CENTER AND

PASADENA WORK CENTER

Special guests to include actress Lee Meriwether,

KTLA personality Ray Gonzales, Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard,

and former South Pasadena Mayor Ted Shaw

Pasadena, CA – A wonderful afternoon of exquisite food and wine, celebrity guests and an exceptional silent auction set among the grounds of an historic South Pasadena estate will be the setting of the 32^nd annual Gourmet Festival of Fall set for Sunday, October 1, from 4 to 8 p.m.

Benefiting the AbilityFirst Lawrence L. Frank and Pasadena Work Centers, more than twenty-five restaurants and wineries will be sampling their fares at the home of John and Renee Davis in South Pasadena.

Established in 1926 as the Crippled Children’s Society of Southern California, AbilityFirst provides programs and services to assist children and adults with disabilities.

Former South Pasadena Mayor and local businessman Ted Shaw will serve as master of ceremonies for this year’s event, welcoming actress and AbilityFirst Honorary Chairperson Lee Meriwether and KTLA personality Ray Gonzales. Other honored guests include Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard, actor Eric Lloyd, and actor Jason Shaw, as well as representatives from the offices of State Assembly member Carol Liu, Senator Jack Scott, and Congressman Adam Schiff.

Participating restaurants include All India Café, Barn Burner, Big Tex Morgan’s Texas BBQ, California Cookshack, Carmine’s Italian Restaurant & Bar, Chocolate Box Café, Claro’s Italian Market, Dine with 9 Catering, Dona Rosa, El Cholo, Green Street Restaurant, Los Tacos, Olive Garden, Pasadena Coffee Co., Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Robeks Juice, Robin’s Wood Fire Grill & BBQ, Tam O’Shanter Inn Restaurant, TGI Friday’s, and Yasmeen’s Mediterranean Cuisine. Fine California wines will be poured by Antelope Valley Winery, Classic Wines of California, Maddalena Vineyards, Saint James Spirits, Heritage Ranch, Olive Garden, San Antonio Winery, and McKeon-Phillips Winery, just to name a few.

Taxi Wisdom and No Boundaries will provide live musical entertainment, and avid golfers can try their luck for a hole-in-one in a putting contest sponsored by the Arroyo Seco Golf Course.

Event activities will continue with a silent auction featuring Southwest Airline tickets, passes to local attractions such as Disneyland, Pasadena Playhouse, American Cinematheque and the Wilshire Country Club, gift certificates to local restaurants, spa visits, portrait sittings, hotel getaways, themed gift baskets from local vendors, and much more – including a special piece from the exclusive Jaclyn Smith furniture collection. Further shopping opportunities include antique and costume jewelry, and decorative children’s storage buckets made by the Gourmet Festival of Fall Committee.

“It’s more than an honor to serve as Master of Ceremonies and promote this terrific event – it’s truly a privilege,” Ted Shaw explained. “Proceeds from the day’s festivities go to support the services AbilityFirst provides for children and adults with disabilities throughout the San Gabriel Valley. The two AbilityFirst Centers – the Lawrence L. Frank Center [which provides services for children] and the Pasadena Work Center [which provides vocational services for adults] do absolutely outstanding work,” Shaw continued. “The fact that the event is being hosted by generous South Pasadena residents makes me especially proud! This is, by far, an event totally worth participating in – for the fun of it, and for the sake of improving the lives of those with disabilities who live and work in our communities,” Shaw said.

Corporate sponsorships for the event are still available, and sponsors will join the ranks of prestigious companies such as American Revolution, Inc.; Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.; Atotech USA Inc.; Brackenhoff Management Group, Inc.; BCS Chemical Solutions, Inc.; Charter Communications; Flexrake Hula Ho; HDSI; Hi-Tech Metal Polishing; Halbert, Hargrove/Russell LLC; Longo Toyota; NSBN, LLP; Reach Financial Group; Shaw Moses Mendenhall & Associates; SoSound Entertainment; Specialists in Long Term Care Insurance; Tetra Tech; The Nose Wine Cellar; Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc.; Union Bank of California; and Univar USA, Inc.

Tickets for the gourmet event are $75 each ($55 is tax deductible). For more information, contact Julie Benn at AbilityFirst at 626.396.1010, ext. 334.

About AbilityFirst: Established in 1926 as the Crippled Children’s Society, AbilityFirst has been looking beyond disabilities for 80 years. One of Southern California’s largest and oldest nonprofit social service organizations, AbilityFirst operates a network of 23 facilities for people of all ages with physical and developmental disabilities in the four-county Los Angeles area, including community centers, work centers, supported employment, year-round camp, and residential housing complexes. Through these venues, skilled, professional staff administer a wide variety of vocational, recreational and social service programs. Innovative programs serve children and adults with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, mental retardation and other neurological and physical disabilities. AbilityFirst is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, the American Camping Association, and the California Department of Social Services.

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AbilityFirst

Looking beyond disabilities

Focusing on capabilities

Expanding possibilities