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STEPPING OUT, STEPPING UPAnnual COD fundraiser ups the ante on talent, enthusiasm and support

There was an air of excitement and anticipation atthe College of the Desert Foundation’s Stepping Outfor COD fundraiser, which was difficult to define.

Yes, headliner Bernadette Peters is a superstar. Yes, every seat in the McCallum Theatre for the

Feb. 19 night-of-music fundraiser was sold out weeksin advance.

Yes, it’s the 30th anniversary of what many philan-thropists feel is the valley’s most vital institution (oris it tied with Eisenhower?).

All that aside, there was an overall air of excitedanticipation — like a room full of 5-year-olds onChristmas Eve.

“This is a new beginning” said foundation boardPresident Donna Jean Darby as she lifted her cham-pagne glass at the pre-show reception, “I feel it in mybones — we’ve turned a corner —you ain’t seen noth-in’ yet.”

What the 1,100 guests did see was a slickly pro-duced program, opened by event co-chairs DianeMarcus Gershowitz and JoAnn McGrath, followedby a touching video in which students and gradsdescribed how College of the Desert changed theirlives.

It was a three-minute, three-hankie video followedby an unforgettable in-person appearance by of oneof the students, Jesus Palominos, a legally blindgraduate of COD who is completing his master’sdegree in music. Palominos described his experiencein going from despair to joy thanks to COD facultysupport and training. He choked up as he told hisaudience, “You change lives. You give hope.”

Then COD President Joel Kinnamon choked up ashe thanked his prize student.

Flashback A major factor in building the evening’s excite-

ment was a lavish pre-event reception held in the BigHorn home of COD board Secretary Diane MarcusGershowitz and her husband Hal. In addition tomeal-size hors d’oeuvres and beverages, there were

Entertainer Bernadette Peters performs during the CODFoundation’s Stepping Out for COD fundraiser Feb. 19 atthe McCallum Theatre. COURTESY PHOTO

By Betty FrancisSpecial to The Desert Sun

ABOVE: From left, COD Foundation Executive Director JimHummer, event co-chair JoAnn McGrath, COD PresidentJoel Kinnamon, event co-chair Diane Gershowitz with HalGershowitz ETHAN KAMINSKY/SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN

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SUNDAY, MARCH 9, 2014 | THE DESERT SUN | MYDESERT.COM G5

tours of the indoor-outdoorestate, an impromptu vocalperformance by The ThreeSinging Waiters and mysteri-ous hints dropped by founda-tion Executive Director JimHummer about an excitingannouncement he would bemaking “within days.”

Wells Fargo Foundationexecutive Gary Hall and hus-band Jerry Green were there,fresh from their honeymoon(after 26 years together) ac-cepting thanks for Wells Far-go’s presenting sponsorship,which put this event over thetop from Day 1.

Then there was the show.Peters is one of those raresuperstars who has accom-plished what we expect of ouricons: She looks, moves, andsings exactly the way we re-member her — trademarkcurls and all.

Peters did it perfectly, per-forming a full-length concertof familiar songs with uniquearrangements such as “Fever”and “Send In The Clowns,”which became complete one-act plays.

Another highlight was whenPeters introduced another icon,Broadway star Carol Chan-ning, who waved and bowedfrom her seat. After the show,they enjoyed a touching re-union in Peters’ dressing room.

Follow upThe event raised more than

$400,000, which was ear-marked primarily for schol-arships and financial aid forstudents in the fields of nurs-ing, public safety accounting,and tourism services. Andsince as many as 75 percent ofCOD graduates stay in thevalley, their training will payoff in the form of better ser-vice to every Coachella Valleyresident for years to come.

True to his word, Hummerissued a news release withindays following this event, an-nouncing that the COD Founda-tion has launched a new“Changing Lives” campaign toraise $3 million for programsand services that support thecollege’s 10,000 annual stu-dents.

Philanthropic leaders andfoundation board members

Donna MacMillan and JoAnnMcGrath are co-chairing thecampaign, which has alreadyraised $1.5 million in donationsand pledges from active boardmembers, businesses, alumniand others.

MacMillan and McGrath,known for their passion andhands-on approach to projects,were quoted as saying, “Thedesert is more than just a placeto live... it’s our home.”

And their hometown effortsfor COD have specific budgetgoals for each of five immedi-ate needs: (1) Mental health andcounseling for veterans en-rolled at COD, $300,000; (2)

Local workforce training de-mands, $1.5 million ; (3) schol-arships, textbooks, and directsupport, $500,000; (4) technol-ogy and equipment upgrades,$500,000; (5) the president’sInnovation Fund for honors andstudent ambassador programs,$200,000.

The announcement remind-ed locals that College of theDesert is an economic enginethat adds more than $30 millionannually to the local economythrough the college’s more than1,000 classes in 91 areas ofstudy, at multiple locationsthroughout the valley.

Who made it happenIn addition to presenting

sponsor Wells Fargo, majorunderwriting came from:

Emeritus sponsors Dianeand Hal Gershowitz, DonnaMacMillan and JoAnnMcGrath. Valedictorian Spon-sors the H.N. & Frances C.Berger Foundation, Rosemarieand Dean L. Buntrock, Eisen-hower Medical Center, HeleneGalen and Jamie Kabler, Har-old Matzner, Prime time Inter-national, and Jan and MikeSalta.

Suite Deal sponsors SuzHunt, Union Bank Foundation,

Sally Simons, Peggy Jacobsand Robert Howard. Graduatesponsors Carol Ammon, Rob-ert Archer and Charles Hilliar,Reena and Mike Blumenfeld,Peggy Cravens, Penny Mason,and Bob Pollock.

CODContinued from G1

COD PresidentJoel Kinnnamonwith blindstudent andmusician JesusPalominos.ETHAN

KAMINSKY/SPECIAL

TO THE DESERT SUN

Bernadette Peters with longtime friend Carol Channing. ETHAN

KAMINSKY/SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN

Several COD student veterans were guests at the event. DONNI

PRINCE/SPECIAL TO THE DESERT SUN

COLLEGE OF THEDESERT FOUNDATIONUPCOMING EVENTS: ChangingLives campaign mid-March recep-tion benefiting the new COD VisualArts Center, and a barbecue. INFORMATION: To join the CODannouncement mailing and/or emaillist, (760) 773-2561; www.codfoun-dation.org

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