C5LA:INSPIRE THE DREAM

On the balmiest of nights last week, my pal Celia and I spent a wonderful, worthwhile evening at Tiato restaurant in Santa Monica, celebrating teens who are making good.

The occasion was the annual fund-raising reception for C5LA, which is a “five-year youth leadership development program that begins with eighth graders and is designed to inspire high-potential, at-risk youth from under-resourced environments in Los Angeles to obtain higher education and personal success.”

The bar on of the lush patio. All photos by Karen Salkin. (But the wind was knocking my camera around, so please don't judge.)

But this event was so much more than the usual dinner full of bored donors; many of the kids in the program were working it! I’ve never been greeted so politely and warmly at an event before!!! Usually, we’re walking into a venue alone and a tad uncomfortable. But the cheery greeters at this one were enthusiastically, and maturely, introducing themselves right at the start, making us feel welcome and at ease. It was great! I’m glad the future will be in these young hands!

I’ve been to Tiato before, but always inside, so I never noticed the giant patio! You could have a wedding there, it’s so big and attractive!!! The atmosphere, at least on that lovely night, was peaceful yet exciting.

Just one small dish out of many! But notice the signs!

The food was set up beautifully. First we had delicious, creative passed hors d’oeuvres, like spicy tuna tacos and mini chicken fried wontons. Then we moved on to the sumptuous dinner buffet. There were five food stations, including a make-your-own taco bar and a sushi bar. We didn’t know what to eat first! Our favorites were the short ribs, crispy rice cakes, and their signature garlic noodles. (I loved that every dish had a sign identifying it!)

A few of the very many silent auction items.

The silent auction was on a level I’ve never seen before, not even in the Hamptons! They had a ton of spectacular sports and show business memorabilia, guitars, gorgeous high-end jewelry, and even some political items! Each one was more special than the last.

Los Lobos.

When we had all bidded and eaten to our heart’s content, we settled down and watched the presentation. The speakers enlightened us about this very important program, but did it quickly and lightly enough as to hold our attention. And then we partied the night away with live music from Los Lobos.

As if all this wasn’t fabulous enough, I had an incredible personal story occur there. Since I actually always pay attention to the serious portion of events like this, because that’s how you learn, (not to mention that’s what we’re all there to do,) I noticed some names come up on the screen that was listing people who are good to this organization. I recognized two of those names to be former fans of my show!!! Way over a decade ago, the girl’s husband had called me to ask if I could call his wife that week to say Happy Birthday. So, I did him one better and invited her to the next taping, which was on her birthday. And she came! (Don’t worry—he wasn’t a stalker who “found” me; we always showed the business phone number at the end of my show.)

That was the only show she ever came to, and I occasionally wondered what ever happened to her. (As I do about many people I’ve met over the years.) I always remembered her as being very pretty and nice. So, when I saw her name on the board at Inspire The Dream, I went in search of her through the crowd. And guess what? I found her!!! And—you won’t believe this—it was her birthday that night again!!! So, I spent part of two of her b-days with her! How’s that for a story??? (The scary thing is, she looks exactly the same!!!) (And, I’m happy to report, they’re still married! How often does that happen???)

So, Inspire The Dream was an evening of doing good, having excellent food, being musically entertained, and re-uniting with a nice person. All that made it probably the best event I’ve been to all year! I wish they all could be as successful as this one was, on every level!

For more info, please check-out www.C5LA.org.