The Earl and Countess Spencer, along with Co-Chairs Wallis Annenberg, James Baker, Giselle Fernandez, Teri & Ken Hertz, Nina & Harvey Karp, Lauren & Richard King, Deborah Klein & Mort Marcus, Fran & John Lasker, Yana & Leon Max, and Robin & Dr. Alfredo Trento, announced today that Whole Child International will hold its inaugural fundraising gala in Los Angeles on Thursday, October 26, 2017 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
Sir Ken Robinson will serve as Master of Ceremonies for the event, which will include a special performance by Anthony Kiedis and Josh Klinghoffer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and a not-to-be-missed auction where guests will be able to bid on exclusive one-of-a-kind items.
Countess Spencer founded Whole Child International in 2004 with the aim of improving the quality of care for vulnerable children worldwide. There are millions of at risk children around the world that are being raised on an assembly line, growing up in empty rooms and deprived of stable, supportive relationships. This is the plight of children in orphanages, those from low-income, at-risk families who spend most of their long days in low-quality childcare centers, and those being bounced around foster care. Whole Child International strives to elevate the quality of care to give every child the opportunity to be properly cared for and loved. The program is designed to unlock an enormously valuable resource: the power of relationships and human connection. Research has proven that in as little as two years, and without any change to nutrition or increase in the number of caregivers, children receiving the benefit of Whole Child International’s program experienced a 46% improvement in height-for-age and 34% improvement in weight-for-age, as well as overall improvement in development, including cognitive, linguistic, motor, and social-emotional development.
“Since founding Whole Child International in 2004, the accomplishment I’m most proud of is that we’ve been able to demonstrate the power of human connection. We’ve been able to prove that even in the most poorest settings a refocusing of existing resources on relationship-centered care can change the life trajectory for even the most vulnerable children,” said Countess Spencer. “After 14 years of program development, implementation and research, having established how cost-effective, sustainable, and impactful our program is, we are now poised to scale our work to reach the millions of children awaiting our help globally. We are delighted to be hosting our inaugural gala at this important inflection point. It’s going to be a great night.”
For more information, and to purchase tickets, interested parties can click here.
