By Daily Press staff
Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks and his wife, actor and producer Rita Wilson, will be honored as the 2005 Caritas Award recipients on Oct. 15, at the Saint John’s Health Center Caritas Gala. The annual black-tie event, which provides vital support to Saint John’s, will be held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills.
Hanks and Wilson met on the movie set of “Volunteers,” a beginning to their partnership of civic and charitable involvement. They have been longtime champions of Saint John’s Health Center, where their two sons were born. In 2004, they narrated the Emmy-nominated Saint John’s community service video, which highlights health center services.
Also being honored at the event is Glen McDaniel, retired chairman of the executive committee of Litton Industries, Inc., who will receive the Spirit of Saint John’s Award for 25 years of volunteer service to the health center. McDaniel, a trustee and past chairman of the Saint John’s Health Center Foundation, worked tirelessly to help rebuild Saint John’s into a state-of-the-art health center after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
The Caritas Gala is hosted by the Saint John’s Health Center Foundation and the Irene Dunne Guild, a key support group of the hospital. With a membership of 75 women, the Irene Dunne Guild provides a variety of volunteer services and philanthropic support to Saint John’s.
In addition to hosting the Caritas Gala, the Irene Dunne Guild helped fund the new Saint John’s Mobile Blood Donor Center and created the “Angels of the ER” program to provide non-medical assistance to emergency room patients and their families. This year’s gala is chaired by guild member Judy Piro.
Past event honorees include Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver, Anthony Hopkins, Martin Sheen, Vin Scully, Robert Wagner, Angela Lansbury, former First Lady Nancy Reagan and Jimmy Stewart.
Tickets for the 2005 Caritas Gala are $400 each. For more information, call Cookie Galanti at Saint John’s Health Center Foundation at (310) 829-8423. Aura in disrepair? A place for healing
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 27, 2005. Read the original PDF.