Wonderball Raises $1.27 Million for Children’s Cancer Association

Wonderball Raises $1.27 Million for Children’s Cancer Association

by | Oct 12, 2019 | Events, Features, News

Portland, OR. The Children’s Cancer Association (CCA) raised $1.27 million at its 19th annual Wonderball gala on September 28th. It was CCA’s biggest event of the year, which helps fuel its mission to prescribe joy to seriously ill children through free innovative programming that leverages music, friendship and nature. Founder Regina Ellis, who is pictured with friends and family, welcomed more than 950 supporters to the Oregon Convention Center for the gala. A Joie de Vivre theme celebrated French culture and the joy of life.

Cedric Berry, Board Member, CCA and Insurance Agent, State Farm; Sarah Berry, Vice President and Director of Business Development, McGee Wealth Management; and Campbell Kidd, Managing Partner, Red Hills Acquisitions, LLC

Kristofor Lofgren, CEO and Founder, Sustainable Restaurant Group

Ron Penner-Ash, Board Member, CCA and Winemaker 

Clare Hamill, Founding Board Chair, CCA and VP, Nike Growth Initiatives and Judi Davis

Scott Burton, Vice Board Chair, CCA and Director of Revenue Management & Portfolio Positioning, Cambia Health Solutions; Allison Clarke, Co-Chair, Ambassador Board, CCA and President, Allison Clarke Consulting; Brian Dickinson, CEO of Asset Protection Partnership; Regina Ellis

Ed Kinateder; Andy Lytle, Board Chair Emeritus, CEO, At the Joy, and Co-Founder Lytle-Barnett; Tara Kinateder, Board Treasurer & Finance Chair, CCA and Executive Vice President, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management

Kevin Dodson, Vice President/CFL, Global Basketball Footwear, Nike; Susan Dodson, Partner, Right On Accounting LLC; Jim Ford, NIKE SuperCore Footwear, DVP; Greg Smith, Category Footwear Leader, Men’s Training Footwear, Nike; Kim Smith; Aaron Cooper, Innovation Expert, Nike, Inc.; Barry Naone, Senior Director Product Creation, Nike Basketball; Julie Moraes; Myron Moraes, Sr. Development and Innovation Director at Nike

Mimes interacting with guests in the hallways before the main event

Erin Tamblyn performing in opening number, “Lady Marmalade.”

Anthony Chan dancing in opening number.

Family speaker, Heidi Bruno shares emotional story before live appeal

CCA-served Levi Seed shares an inspiring speech CCA’s impact during his cancer treatment

John Simpson, Board Member, CCA and startup advisor; and his guests

Blisan and Bill Foudy, President, Target Sourcing Service and CCA Board Member

Eric Gill, President/CEO, Gill’s Point S Tire and Auto; Peter Kwong, Board Member, CCA and Audit Shareholder, Director of Assurance & Advisory, Perkins & Co; Brent Bracelin, Managing Director and Senior Research Analyst, Piper Jaffray; Ian Lombard, Scott Lawrence, founder of Breakside Brewery and CCA Board Member

Eileen McNulty, Physician Assistant, NW Dermatology Institute; Carlene Pride-Sarpong, Founder of Pride Group NW and Managing Broker and Development Specialist at Compass; John Powers, Co Ambassador Board Chair, CCA and Director of Sales, Xperience Real Estate, PDX Property Group; Stephen Bowdon, Department of Neurological Surgery, OHSU; Chris Suarez, CEO of PDX Property Group at Keller Williams; Kristi Weidner

Jesuit High School students and Paul Hogan, (4th from left) Board Member, CCA and Principal, Jesuit High School

John Duley, Co-Founder, Dream Again; Genesis Trujilo, Design Project Manager, Portland General Electric; Chase Renton, Owner and Winemaker, L’Angolo Estate; Noelle Harvey; Marcus Harvey, Founder, Portland Gear; Kelsey Fuson, Marketing Manager, BurnCycle; Jessi Duley, Board Member, CCA and Founder, BurnCycle

CCA-served child, Maria, and CCA Chemo Pal Specialist, Amelia, selling raffle tickets in French attire

Mary and Dana Braner, Chair, OHSU Department of Pediatrics

“Because we know that joy is medicine. We are creating a gold standard for delivering joy-based programming that will one day reach every child in the country who’s facing serious illness,” said Regina Ellis, Founder and Chief Joy Officer at CCA. “Together we have fought to deliver joy to the children and their families of this community. And now we have the opportunity to take what we’ve made here and share it with children across the nation.”

Guests enjoyed live gypsy-jazz music courtesy of the Hot Club on Hawthorne, as they explored a curated silent auction room decorated to resemble a French outdoor marketplace.

The French outdoor theme followed throughout the lobby with vintage bicycles, an antique Citroen car, fresh baguettes and lavender, live painting and, of course, mimes. In addition to creating an outdoor French marketplace environment in the lobby and halls, CCA recreated imagery of the Moulin Rouge inside the main ballroom, including a miniature model of the windmill on the main stage.

The main event opened with a rendition of Patty LaBelle’s “Lady Marmalade” sung by Erin Tamblyn and Malia Tippets and augmented with performances by local drag queens: Anthony Chan, Jeremy Sloan, Chadwick Anderson and Erin Shannon. The master of ceremonies for the night, Stacey Murdock, who recently played Gaston in the Portland Opera’s recent production of Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast,” carried the program through to the end, where Danielle Barker performed an upbeat cover of “La vie en Rose” to close out the night.

The dinner program featured a record-breaking paddle raise led by auctioneer Kelly Russell of Artisan Auctions. Late-night revelers also enjoyed an after-party with DJ Stray at District East, which carried over the French theme and was hosted by CCA’s young professional board.

Here’s a video about CCA’s programs:

Here’s a link to more information about the Children’s Cancer Association: JoyRx.org/donate.

Phil Knight and His Wife Penny Honored By Architecture Foundation For Contributions to Design

Phil Knight and His Wife Penny Honored By Architecture Foundation For Contributions to Design

by | Nov 9, 2012 | Events, Features, Uncategorized

Portland, October 29th. Phil & Penny Knight’s contributions to Oregon were feted with enthusiasm by the 600 supporters at the Architecture Foundation of Oregon’s 20th annual Honored Citizen Dinner. (Photo credit, Andie Petkus) While the Knights were not in attendance, many paid tribute including: Brian Druker, MD, director of the OHSU Knight Cancer Institute, David L. Kennedy, Senior Associate Vice President for Development, Stanford University, Robert L. Thompson, FAIA, founding principal of TVA Architecture. KOIN’s Jeff Gianola captured Phil Knight’s thoughts regarding the couple’s philanthropy and how their giving priorities impact design – particularly at the Matthew Knight Arena, the John E. Jaqua Center for Student Athletes, and the Knight Management Center at Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Wilson W. Smith, III, Nike designer and AFO board member; Dean Frances Bronet, University of Oregon School of Architecture & Allied Arts; Jeff Thiede, event chair, Chairman, Oregon Electric Construction Group; Robert Packard, Hon. AIA, Managing Partner, ZGF Architects, LLP

Wilson W. Smith, III, Nike designer and AFO board member; Dean Frances Bronet, University of Oregon School of Architecture & Allied Arts; Jeff Thiede, event chair, Chairman, Oregon Electric Construction Group; Robert Packard, Hon. AIA, Managing Partner, ZGF Architects, LLP

University of Oregon sponsored table guests join in the creative spirit of the evening

University of Oregon sponsored table guests join in the creative spirit of the evening

A special stage set and table décor  were designed by Owen William Fritts, an architect-turned-artist/environmental advocate who has worked with Nike on the Project Red campaign to fight AIDS. He created the installation from locally foraged fir and apple bows, interlaced with red shoe laces from Nike. Inspired by the Knights’ legacy of creativity, audience members got into the act by completing their table centerpieces – copper wire and red shoe lace structures showing some amazing creativity.

Owen William Fritts, creator of the stage set and table decorations, inspired by the Knights’ love of Oregon

Owen William Fritts, creator of the stage set and table decorations, inspired by the Knights’ love of Oregon

AFO Volunteer Elizabeth Lockwood and event guest, Brook Wyntergreen, KPFF Consulting Engineers

AFO Volunteer Elizabeth Lockwood and event guest, Brook Wyntergreen, KPFF Consulting Engineers

From sculptors to public officials to captains of industry, the Knight’s join an exemplary list of Oregonians who have been honored by afo in the past 20 years, including: The Oregon Community Foundation, Cycle Oregon, developer/philanthropists John Gray and Bob Gerding, Senator Mark O. Hatfield and Congressman Earl Blumenauer, urban naturalist Mike Houck, architects Pietro Belluschi, FAIA and Robert J. Frasca, FAIA, artists Ed Carpenter, Tom Hardy and Leroy Setziol, and landscape architect, Barbara Fealy, FASLA.

The evening was supported by a who’s who of industry firms: Event Sponsor, Daily Journal of Commerce; Sustaining Sponsor, Hoffman Construction Company; Supporting Sponsors, Gerding Edlen, Glumac, Howard S. Wright, Skanska, Turner Construction, University of Oregon and ZGF Architects, LLP; 36 Table Sponsors and 13 Supporting Table Sponsors.

The evening raised $160,000 for afo programs and services, including the Architects in Schools program. This school year, 2,400 students and their teachers in the Portland metro area, Central Oregon, Eugene and Salem/Keizer will participate in the six-week residency.  The AiS program introduces students to design, it´s process, application and impact on their daily lives; it places architects in the classroom, providing workplace awareness to students; it provides teachers a curriculum that helps them fulfill state learning goals through design education so that visual arts are not an “extra” but a way to teach core subjects; and it provides this all free of charge to the schools so it is available to as many students and schools as possible. Plans to develop a program for the Medford area were begun at a September meeting with representatives of afo and AIA/Southern Oregon.