The Country Friends board of directors honored 18 local charities selected as beneficiaries of this year’s fundraising events. President Jeanne Lucia welcomed representatives from the chosen charities during a private reception and coffee at the organization’s consignment shop in Rancho Santa Fe. Also on hand were The Country Friends Consignment Shop manager Jean Newman, funding directors Sharon Ferges and Pearl Padovano; Melanie Cruz, Chair of “Hats and Flats,” a benefit on June 13 at the San Diego Polo Club; and Andrea Naversen, Chair of the “Art of Fashion Runway Show” on September 23 at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. Proceeds from those fundraisers, as well as the consignment shop, will fund various programs at the following charitable agencies in 2010: Big Brother-Big Sisters of San Diego County, Canine Companions for Independence, Foster Grandparents Program, Center for Community Solutions, Community Resource Center, Connor’s Cause for Children, Down Syndrome Association of San Diego, Helen Woodward Animal Center, Hope Food, Inc., Hospice of the North Coast, Operation Home Front San Diego, Project Concern International, ARTS A Reason to Survive, San Diego Blood Bank, San Diego Brain Injury Foundation, St. Clare’s Home, Inc., Women’s Resource Center, and YWCA of San Diego County.
The Country Friends was established in 1954 to support human care agencies, with an emphasis on providing services to women, children and the elderly. Its mission is “helping people to help themselves.”
Photography by Bob Stefanko
