By Daily Press staff
A sold-out crowd of 1,400 packed Pacific Park on the Santa Monica Pier earlier this month for the Fifth Annual “Mattel Party on the Pier,” which benefited Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA.
“The Mattel Party on the Pier is one of our major annual fundraising events, generating more than $2 million in the first five years, and we are truly grateful to everyone for their ongoing support,” said Dr. Edward McCabe, physician-in-chief of Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA. “The funds raised help care for our young patients, advance research on childhood diseases and teach the new generation of pediatricians.”
Many pediatric patients of Mattel Children’s Hospital also attended the event. Eleven-year-old Chris Aguirre of West Hills, who is being treated for Hodgkin’s disease at Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA, came with his parents and sister to have a good time and show their support.
“Never in a million years could I imagine that my son Chris would get cancer,” said Chris’s mother, Rosie Gutierrez. “At Mattel’s Children’s Hospital at UCLA I know that that staff is doing their best to help my son get cancer-free.”
The Title sponsor, Mattel Inc., along with more than 70 corporate and individual sponsors helped make the fundraiser a success, officials said. Mattel Inc. also donated 14,000 toys for the event and recruited almost 70 Mattel employees to volunteer.
Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA is a 120-bed “hospital within a hospital” located at UCLA Medical Center in Westwood. The hospital offers a full spectrum of primary and specialized medical care for infants, children and adolescents. The mission of Mattel Children’s Hospital at UCLA is to provide state-of-the-art treatment for children in a compassionate atmosphere, as well as to improve the understanding and treatment of pediatric diseases.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 30, 2004. Read the original PDF.