CONCERN FOUNDATION’S 44TH ANNUAL BLOCK PARTY RAISES $1.8 MILLION FOR CANCER RESEARCH
July 18, 2018 - On Saturday, July 14th 2018, Concern Foundation for cancer research, led by event chair Lexy Carroll and a huge team of volunteers, successfully produced its 44th Annual Block Party on the backlot of Paramount Studios in Hollywood on the foundation’s 50th anniversary. Themed this year as Cancer Crusaders, the highly anticipated and sold-out event hosted approximately 4,000 guests, successfully raising $1.8 million for cancer research through ticket sales, donations and bids on auction items.
All guests had a chance to experience over 70 restaurants, caters, and beverage vendors including Dulan’s Soul Food, Button Mash, Herb Alpert’s Vibrato Grill & Jazz, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, Fogo de Chao, Fresh Brother’s Pizza and Pink’s Famous Hot Dogs. The night was filled with interactive entertainment such as casino-style gaming, a celebrity bar hosting actors Lili Bordán (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, THE NUN), Gabe Jarret (REAL GENIUS) and Sean Marquette (“Ultimate Spider-Man”); the original TV Batmobile, and live and iconic Super Hero “streetmosphere”. The Best of LA® on Los Angeles Magazine’s street featured lounges, photo booths, food stations, beauty stations and customizable tote bags sponsored by Infiniti.
During the evening’s festivities, the event’s main stage held the annual live auction as well as the presentation of this year’s honorees and award recipients. The live auction lead by lifestyle expert and entertainment reporter, Mar Yvette, presented guests with the option to bid on prizes including VIP tickets to a taping of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”, VIP tickets to the 2018 American Music Awards, a six-night vacation in Maui, and Dodger Dugout seats. This year Concern’s surprise recipient of the Spirit of Concern award was John Ferdenzi of Town and Country Event Rentals. John was recognized for his dedication and commitment to Concern and as a valued member of the extended Concern family for more than two and a half decades. He has given his time and creative talents to assist at various Concern Block Parties and annual holiday events.
In connection to this year’s theme, the foundation was happy to honor Dr. Jay & Kris Calvert and family as this year's "Cancer Crusaders" for their participation in helping to conquer cancer through research. Honored on stage alongside his family, Dr. Jay & Kris Calvert openly shared their personal experience with cancer. The Calvert's 10 year old son Ace was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at age 4 and while today he has beaten his cancer, ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) can always return and he is never truly cured. This is a major reason he and his family feels so strongly about raising money to help find a permanent cure. Jay himself was a young scientist who could not get funding early in his career as a molecular biologist and he personally knows how important our mission to supporting young investigators is to jump start researcher's careers. Concern Foundation is proud to have these members of the community serve as this year's honorees.
For Concern, it was a true honor to welcome and see nearly 4,000 of the true super heroes all gathered together helping us raise funds to conquer cancer. The event brought together 4 generations of donors, 5 decades of cancer researchers that Concern has funded all surrounded by a tremendous outpouring of love and support by our local business community that donate their time and talents so that we can give as much money as possible to support cancer research.
