|
 Shine
your light! Be our Star! RFB&D-LA's 16th Annual
Record-A-Thon Kickoff was held Saturday, April 5,
2008 at our Hollywood studio, and it was indeed a
star-filled event! We received many comments that
this was the best kickoff ever, with department
staff from Educational Outreach, Production, Development
and Communications all contributing to the outstanding
and very entertaining kickoff to the weeklong Record-A-Thon
event!
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Stars like Betty White,
James Pickens, Jr. (Grey's Anatomy), Terri
Garr, Julie Newmar ("Catwoman"), Lee
Meriwether (another "Catwoman!"), Kate
Linder (The Young and the Restless), Michael
Kostroff (The Wire), and more joined news
anchors from CBS2 (our biggest turnout, which
included Kent Shocknek, Sandra Mitchell and Vera
Jimenez), ABC7 (Phillip Palmer), Stephanie Edwards
and Leila Feinstein (KTLA), and |
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Staff, Volunteer
Steve Grant and Betty White
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Fox11 (Mark Thompson). We were also thrilled to
have anchors and reporters from five radio stations
this year! Larry Elder (KABC and syndicated), Shannon
Farren and Aron Bender (KFI), Claudia Peschiutta (KNX),
Hettie Lynne Hurtes (KPCC) and Mitch Earle (KCRW)
were all welcome guests, many of them first-timers
too! All the celebrities recorded textbooks that will
be added to our national library of more than 43,000
digitally recorded CDs.
Press coverage included lovely pieces running on
KCAL9 and CBS2 multiple days, along with ABC7's daily
"7-day Planner" on the news and their website,
and web presence on KTLA, KNBC and KFI! The Park La
Brea News/Beverly Press also covered the event.
We were all enchanted by new guests: dancers from
Champs Charter High School in Van Nuys. Performing
Arts Co-Chair Kyme Sallid brought three dancers and
two amazing dances for volunteers, students and celebrities
to enjoy. Gabriella Lemus and Justice Nnanna performed
a Tango, and James Cowan performed a tap number called
"Sing, Sing, Sing." The students were enthralling
performers; professional with absolutely spot-on technique.
RFB&D-LA is so grateful for these young
talents, and we hope that they will become annual
guests!
Our other captivating and delightful entertainers
were J.J. Gatchalian, and his student Holly Hall.
Holly is a mere 8-years-old, and did a bang-up job
playing drums along to a familiar Beatles tune with
J.J. on keyboards! J.J. is a former RFB&D-LA Scholastic
Achievement Award winner who graduated with a degree
in music from University of California Santa Barbara.
We were also pleased to welcome back J.J.'s family,
and Holly's mom, dad and three young sisters!
Our volunteers collect pledges to support their extra
time in the recording booth during the contest, as
Record-A-Thons goals are raising awareness, raising
funds, and creating more critical audio textbooks
for students with disabilities. Check back here to
see which of our volunteers read the most hours, and
collected the most funds!
Don't
forget to visit the photo album here
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