A Place Called Home (APCH), a South Central Los Angeles based organization providing a safe haven and proven programs to improve the lives of underserved youth, celebrated its 20th anniversary by honoring three outstanding Southland community leaders at its “Gala for the Children” on Wednesday night.
Honored at the festivities held in the ballroom of the Beverly Wilshire hotel in Beverly Hills were Sister Patricia Connor, RSHM and the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, Jack Suzar and Santa Monica resident Dr. Philip Goglia. Six-hundred and fifty guests attended the annual celebration, which brought in $1.2 million for the organization.
Jonathan Zeichner, executive director of APCH, noted that all three individuals were honored for their community work, as well as their support of his organization.
“We believe it’s important for us to highlight and applaud the good works undertaken in our community by those who truly care about improving the quality of young lives,” Zeichner said. “Clearly, Sister Pat, Jack Suzar and Dr. Goglia fall into that category and deserved to be publicly recognized.”
This year’s APCH Children’s Inspiration Award was presented to Dr. Philip Goglia. Dr. Goglia is noted for his expertise in the science of metabolic nutrition and is the founder of Performance Fitness Concerns, one of the nation’s most respected performance nutrition, and rejuvinative health and wellness clinics.
His clients are some of the best known professional athletes, including members of the Amgen/UBS Master Cycling Team and he is the nutritional consultant for the “Dr. Phil Show” and “The Doctors.”
A cancer survivor, Dr. Goglia clearly understands the value of nutrition and its impact on good health.
Zeichner noted that Dr. Goglia has been an enthusiastic contributor to APCH.
“He shares his valuable time and expertise with our Nutrition and Athletic Departments, has donated instruments to our Music Department and provides sugar-free candy for our Halloween Festival,” Zeichner said. “We are extremely gratified that we were able to recognize his contributions with the presentation of our Children’s Inspiration Award.”
Entertainment luminaries and APCH Board Members Barbara Glazer, Bob Israel, Dawn Taubin and Maryellen Zarakas co-chaired the event, which began with a cocktail reception and silent auction and was followed by dinner, awards and entertainment provided by APCH member youth.
“The support APCH has received over the years from the entertainment industry has made it possible for us to provide more than 16,000 young people with critical services and opportunities that otherwise would be unavailable in their community,” said Zeichner. “All of us at APCH are deeply appreciative of Barbara’s, Bob’s, Dawn’s and Maryellen’s commitment to making this year’s gala the most successful in our history.”
