The Los Alamitos Educational Foundation announced a new signature fundraising event: The King and Queen of Hearts. The King and Queen of Hearts campaign is a six-week fundraising competition among corporate and community leaders in our area. Candidates for the campaign will fundraise by seeking support from their local businesses, colleagues, peers, and friends during the next several weeks. This year’s competition runs between Oct. 11 from the debut event at Hennessey’s and culminates with the Royal Ball and Coronation event scheduled for Nov. 22 at The Grand Long Beach Event Center. The Royal Ball is a huge party to celebrate the accomplishments and successes of all the candidates, where the King and Queen will be crowned for the year.
LAEF’s mission is to generate significant, sustainable and allocable resources to support the Los Alamitos Unified School District and to deliver opportunities for every student to connect to the four A’s: Academics, Athletics, Activities and the Arts. Lead by executive director Janine Ingram and the LAEF board, this event will be an annual competition by a diverse group of community members who are connected and supportive of LAEF’s mission.
The candidates are selected on a criteria based on several key qualities: their participation in the mission of the school district, connectivity to various groups, commitment to education, business access, grassroots campaign ability and a “can do” attitude. Diversity in the candidates geographically is also important to represent Seal Beach, Rossmoor and Los Alamitos.
The debut event, thanks to Hennessey’s was produced this past Friday and was a smashing success. All the candidates were announced and Hennesey’s provided all of the event support at no cost to the foundation. The ball is partly donated by the Grand and the Choura family. Further, Orange County Neighborhood Newspapers, Inc. and particularly the Sun News and the News Enterprise have signed on as the lead media sponsor for the event.
The Candidates
Danny Salas has 15 years working in the Los Alamitos Unified School 13 as a day custodian at Weaver Elementary where he is beloved by staff and children alike. He is a huge Weaver advocate. In addition, he has 35 years as a cosmetologist who works at Studio One, which he refers to as “the hottest salon in Seal Beach.” Danny volunteered as the Supply Sergeant for young marines for six years. In addition, Danny is the First Vice President of the California Schools Employees Association, and proud to represent the district employees. A modest candidate, Danny gets his biggest reward serving the children in the Los Alamitos Unified School district. When they say “Hi,” it makes his day. He always dresses up for Halloween and shares a special bond with the principal at Weaver where patriotism is a very high priority.
Meg Cutuli is a current serving Los Alamitos Unified School District School Board member for the past 13 years, president twice. Leadership positions on various boards: PTA Council, Orange County ROP and CSBA delegate. She has received numerous honors and awards from PTA and the Marian Bergeson Award for leadership in public education from the Orange County School Boards Association in 2011. Her three children graduated from Los Alamitos schools and she now has a granddaughter at McGaugh and twins at the Child Development Center. Meg is a highly respected member of our community and we are honored to have her participation in the event.
Justin Padilla has 12 years at Oak Middle School where he is Director of Orchestra, Concert and Jazz bands. He has a tremendous passion for the arts. His accomplishments with the jazz band at Oak are nothing short of remarkable. We are working together to bring a big event to the area in support of the arts. Justin also teaches at CSULB, is a professional Saxophone player, plays in a band and is Vice President Jazz Education, Southern California Music Association. He is always willing to discuss the importance of music in our schools and what it means for the development of young minds. He is truly passionate and outspoken about this topic. Justin brings to the foundation a remarkable opportunity to connect the middle school communities and the arts.
Diana Brunjes is currently and the youngest president of the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce. An active Lion and Vice-President of Bay Hardware, Diana brings youth, enthusiasm and a willingness to win. She has also been president of Business Networking International and can network with the best of them. Diana has a passion for physical fitness, particularly running and she regularly cycles to and from work. Diana has a strong commitment to education and is planning on acquiring her MBA. She is the daughter of successful entrepreneurs David and Cynthia Brunjes from Highland Park, Illinois and their business Craftwood Lumber. Diana will have her plate full taking over a new business Lanada Bay hardware in Palace Verdes in addition to running an aggressive business focused campaign for Queen.
Vince Bodiford is the group publisher of Orange County Neighborhood News, the local papers we all know and love, which includes a group of community newspapers and digital media outlets – serving Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Stanton, Westminster, Garden Grove, Seal Beach, Sunset Beach, Leisure World, Catalina Island (Avalon). Prior to coming to Seal Beach, he and his wife Jeannette lived in Arizona and Nebraska and Texas. An owner of a multitude of papers in several states over the years along with corporate experience with Cabellas and USA Today, Vince knows publishing and how to get the word out. An entrepreneur, motorist and syndicated columnist for his “Weekend Drive” – a closely followed review of the latest car models from all the major manufacturers, Vince brings to LAEF a passion for media and automobiles, which is unparalleled. Vince is also the Vice President of the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce and chairman of the Car Show.
Trisha Morris is a parent-volunteer extraordinaire at Weaver Elementary bringing enthusiasm and a sense of fun to every project she works on. She has a fifth grader, and while she always supports his individual teacher, she spends most of her time in Winkos – Weaver’s version of Kinkos – supporting all the teachers at the school. She has a wide spread network in Los Alamitos with friends with ties at every school in the district. This opportunity to support the larger educational community is exciting for her as she has a way to help support all the Los Al students, parents, educators and administrators.
Mike Tannourji is the Executive Vice President, Advertising for the Los Angeles Times Media Group and is responsible for revenue strategy and development that supports LATMG’s evolving portfolio, including the Los Angeles Times, Hoy Los Angeles and all digital and mobile products. Mike is a proud graduate of UCLA and The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine. Mike resides in Seal Beach with his wife Lori and his three children Luke, Andrew and Elary. The Tannourji’s are active in their community, and can be seen most weekends cheering their sons on at either Friday Night Lights football or NJB basketball games. Both Luke and Andrew attend McGaugh Elementary School, and their younger sister Elary is busy adjusting her tiara and practicing her princess wave in anticipation of her father’s royal victory!
For more information about the campaign, to give, to sponsor or to simply be part of the event, please contact LAEF at info@laef4kids.org.
