Long Beach Organizations that Benefit
Since our first dinner in November, 2004. Our dinners have raised more than
$112,000 in cash and in-kind donations for the non-profits in Long Beach listed
below, and more than $15,000 for the special international causes listed at right.
Visit
progressivedinnerparty.shutterfly.com to view photos from our dinners!

COMPASS, November 2009
COMPASS is the Community of Musicians, Performers, Artists and social
Scientists, a small learning community at Millikan High school that collaborates
with the Mary Bethune Transitional Center for homeless children in Long Beach.

The Children's Clinic, September 2009
In September of 2009 we raised about $2,000 for The Children's Clinic, an
independent not-for-profit that provides quality health care to under-served children,
youth and adults, seeing more than 18,000 patients at 56,000 visits last year.

EBM Japanese Gardens Education Program, July 2009
In July of 2009 we gathered at the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Gardens and
raised $2,735 in transportation funds to send students from Long Beach west-side
schools to the gardens!

Comprehensive Childhood Development, May, 2009
We gathered on a beautiful, sunny afternoon at the Cabrillo Village location of
Comprehensive Childhood Development, to benefit their mission of quality
early childhood education and care for hundreds of low income families in the Long
Beach area.

Partners of Parks, March 2009
On a beautiful March afternoon we gathered to raise about $2,500 for the
Universally Accessible Playground, a
Partners of Parks project that will provide
children with disabilities a place to play alongside typically-abled children.

The Guidance Center, January 2009
On a beautiful warm January day we gathered to raise about $3,500 (plus $5,000
worth of new Converse shoes!) for
The Guidance Center, which provides mental
health services to children, teens, and families in the region.

Rising TIDE at the Marguerite Kiefer Education Center, November 2008
For our fourth anniversary dinner (woo hoo!) you helped us raise about $4,000
for
Rising TIDE at the Marguerite Kiefer Education Center (MKEC), a non-profit
program serving low-income multicultural children and youth in Downtown Long
Beach.

Long Beach Organic's Youth Environmental Leadership, Sept. 2008
The $4,000 we raised this month established a Youth Environmental Leadership
Team, comprised of North Long Beach junior high and high school students, at
Carmelitos Community Garden, located in what once was once a trash-strewn
vacant lot near a former crime-ridden housing project.

Long Beach Poly High School's Academic Assist Program, July 2008
We raised about $3,500 to benefit Poly High School's Academic Assist Program,
which provides academic counseling for academically-challenged students on the
school's basketball team.

Harbour Area Halfway Houses, May 2008
We raised about $3,500 for Harbour Area Halfway Houses, which provides a full
spectrum of social services to women who are incarcerated or at risk of
incarceration, with a specific emphasis on issues related to substance abuse.

Horace Mann Elementary library, March 2008
In March 2008 we raised $4,000 to purchase books for the school library at Horace
Mann Elementary, which is facing a 55% budget cut due to the statewide
Education budget cuts. The school's PTO and Bluff Heights Neighborhood
Association were important partners for this dinner.

The New City School, January 2008
In January 2008, we raised more than $4,800 in cash and in-kind donations for the
arts programs at the
New City School, a K-8 public charter school that uses a
dual-immersion Spanish-English curriculum that emphasizes the arts, community
building, critical thinking and social justice.

Centro Shalom, November 2007
In November 2007, we had a record event! We raised more than $5,100 for
Centro Shalom, a Long Beach non-profit that provides support services for new
immigrants, homeless people, and the local multicultural and multi-ethnic
community.

Operation Jump Start, September 2007
In September 2007, we had another record event! We raised more than $5,000 for
Operation Jump Start, a Long Beach non-profit dedicated to helping disadvantaged
youth graduate from high school and go on to college.

Family Service, July 2007
In July 2007, we had a record event! We raised more than $4,500 for Family
Service, which provides families with counseling services, educational programs,
chemical dependency program, and an intern training program.

Excelsus, May 2007
In May 2007, we gathered to raise more than $3,200 for Excelsus, a non-profit
organization dedicated to igniting passion for music for children. The money raised
will benefit musical scholarship programs for children from low-income families.

Downtown Associated Youth Service Committee, March 2007
DAYS offers a free six-week summer day camp for children 4-14 from the
downtown Long Beach area.

On the Day You Were Born, January 2007
Provides children from low-income families with a small family birthday party.
OTDYWB works in conjunction with
For the Child.

The Freedom Writers Foundation, November 2006
In November, 2006, we raised more than $4,000 for the Freedom Writers
Foundation, which promotes tolerance and inclusion in high school classrooms
and empowers teachers and under-served students.

Food Finders, Inc., September 2006
Serves as a conduit to provide food for to agencies such as homes for battered
women and children, hospices, children's homes and after-school programs.
http://foodfinders.org/

Bring Me a Book Foundation, July 2006
Places book libraries in pre-schools, and inspires parents to read with their
children. Our dinner funded books for three LB pre-schools in low-income areas.

www.bringmeabook.org

Mary McLeod Bethune Transitional Center, May 2006
This dinner was to fund a PeaceBuilders program at this transitional center for
homeless children.
www.peacebuilders.com

WomenShelter Long Beach, March 2006
Helps end the cycle of domestic violence through intervention, prevention and
education.
www.womenshelterlb.org

Long Beach BLAST, January 2006
Trains college students as academic mentors to work with K-12 students, and
brings enrichment programming to partnering after school programs.
www.lbblast.org/

For the Child, December 2005
Provides comprehensive child abuse prevention, treatment for child abuse victims
and family-focused mental health services
http://forthechild.org

The Guidance Center, October 2005
Provides state-of-the-art assessment and treatment to children and youth with
behavioral, emotional, interpersonal, family and school problems
www.memorialcare.org/miller/services/guidanceCenter.cfm

Children Today, August 2005
Provides community-based services to children and families experiencing
homelessness, fostering long-term family stability and success
www.childrentoday.org

Covenant Presbyterian Church After School Education, June 2005
Offers inner-city youth help with homework, recreational opportunities and a
tutoring/mentoring program, which also provides a hot meal
lang.presstelegram.com/socal/gangs/articles/lbp6_church.asp

Artful Healing, April 2005
Provides artmaking therapy to chronically ill children at Miller Children's Hospital

Raising a Reader Long Beach, February 2005
A literacy program that promotes families reading together
http://lbplfoundation.org/family_learning_center/raising_the_reader.php

Mary McLeod Bethune Transitional Center, November 2004
A transitional education center for homeless children
International
Organizations

Kigali Girl's School, April 2009
This evening we partnered with
JOY Spread the Word to raise
funds for a girl's school in Kigali,
Rwanda.
Click here for more
information. Thanks to Patience
Salgado for contributing her
photos!

Buenos Aires Children's Fund,
Feb. '08
BACF finances the food at Volver
a Empezar, a small soup kitchen
for impoverished children near
Buenos Aires.
Click here to read
more about Volver a Empezar.
And
click here to view photos
from Cari & Eric's visit with the
children in August, 2007.

Luz del Mundo, June '07
Devyn Brown, who is the
daughter of our Progressive
Lenore Brown, traveled to Santa
Cruz, Bolivia to volunteer at Luz
del Mundo, a home/child minding
center, and we raised more than
$1,400 for her to give to the
center!
Watch Devyn speaking
about her trip, and
view pictures
from the center.

Todd Anglin Home for
Children, April '07
In April 2007 we raised more than
$1,500 for the
Todd Anglin Home
for Children, an orphanage and
protection center in Nicaragua.

House of the Cherubs, June '06
A safe haven for orphaned
children in Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
Click here for more
information.
Click here to view
photos from Cari & Eric's trip
there (we can't show the
children's faces!).

House of Mercy, April '06
A home for children orphaned by
AIDS in Boksberg, South Africa
houseofmercy2006.blogspot.com
About the Organizations We Benefit
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.  - Margaret Mead