The Crowd:

Despite mankind’s supreme technological advances, we are still at the mercy of Mother Nature. The recent magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile shocked an already horrified world reeling from the earlier disaster in Haiti.

Americans can be proud of the fact that both government agencies and private citizens have donated manpower, life-saving food, water and medical supplies and hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Haitian relief fund. We are now stepping forward to assist Chile as well.

Two weeks prior to the quake in Chile, concerned Newport-Mesa citizens gathered at The Island Hotel for a benefit organized by Kathryn Moore, chief executive of an organization called Style 20/20, which is headquartered in Newport Beach.

The event invited some 250 local guests with the goal of raising money to rebuild orphanages and educational infrastructure in Haiti. It was the first major dinner/fundraiser for Style 20/20 and raised a most impressive $500,000, which will benefit the Haiti Youth Relief Fund, a sponsored project of the Volunteer Center of Orange County.

The extremely large financial success was attributed to a number of local underwriters including Paul and Marybelle Musco, Michelle and David Horowitz, Paul and Nancy St. Pierre, Faribarz Maseeh, Tom and Joyce Tucker, State Sen. Mimi Walters and her husband, Dave Walters, and Bert and Debbie Ellis, who made a donation in honor of Stephanie Crispinelli, who died in the collapse of Hotel Montana in Haiti.

A major corporate sponsor was American Career College and an anonymous donor contributed $250,000, which raised the tally to the $500,000 mark.

The gala was put together in just three weeks following the Haitian disaster, produced by event organizers David and Kathryn Moore. David Moore is one of the founding partners of Corinthian Colleges, a publicly traded post-secondary education company. Moore was joined by Don Saulic, Dennis Beal and Dag Wilkinson in making the event a success.

The highlight of the party was a performance by Tami Saulic, surrounded by a gospel choir of 60 musicians performing Saulic’s new release titled “Radical Love.” Also entertaining the crowd were the renowned jazz performers Rick Braun, Jonathan Butler and Brenda Russell.

Patrons at the event, paying a minimum of $500 per person, enjoyed dinner, dancing, casino entertainment and the musical performance at The Island Hotel.

Social organizers take note: Party planners at this event also offered the crowd a $100 ticket. It admitted them to “after party” entertainment following dinner, which helped to raise additional funds for the cause from folks either not able or willing to pay the full ticket price, which included the dinner. It’s an interesting concept in these challenging economic times.

Despite the challenges, including the short notice in creating the event, the Moores deserve credit for pulling off a monumental task and raising an enormous amount of money for the Haiti Youth Relief Fund.

It is somewhat ironic that two weeks later Americans are faced with yet another world disaster in Chile.

Despite our own economic needs, we are people that will rise to whatever demand is placed upon us to help those less fortunate in any part of the world.

THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.