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BEVERLY HILLS, CA – On
Wednesday, March 4, Jerry Seinfeld hosted Baby Buggy’s
inaugural Los Angeles Fatherhood Initiative Lunch at Palm
Restaurant in Beverly Hills. The luncheon raised nearly
$250,000 towards Baby Buggy’s ongoing efforts to support
fathers in need. In
the United States, 1 out of every 4 children under age five
lives in poverty. Forty-three percent of families living in
poverty are headed by a single mother, which contributes to
their economic challenges. In fact, children in
father-absent homes are 4 times more likely to be poor than
children in two-parent homes1, and for these
reasons, Baby Buggy decided to expand its reach to focus on
fathers.
Seinfeld spoke about the partnership between Baby Buggy and
fatherhood programs, and the success of his wife Jessica’s
nonprofit started 14 years ago. The audience also heard
from Alan-Michael Graves, Director of Project Fatherhood at
The Children’s Institute, Inc. (CII) who explained that most
of their fathers don’t have resources, and that Baby Buggy’s
donations, along with the fatherhood program services, help
make fatherhood present on a daily basis. Three fathers
from the Fatherhood Program at CII were present and shared
their personal experiences with guests.
“I was honored to share this day with amazing fathers whom I
also call friends,” said Seinfeld. “The work that Baby
Buggy does is instrumental in a father’s life, and in the
lives of their children, and I am grateful that so many
people came out to support it.”
Guests at the luncheon included Baby Buggy Founder and Board
President Jessica Seinfeld, in addition to Jason Alexander,
Judd Apatow, Jason Bateman, Seth Green, Kevin Hart, Jay
Leno, Bill Maher, Gwyneth Paltrow, Michael Richards, Bob
Saget, Dax Shepard, Michelle Trachtenberg, James Van Der
Beek, George Wallace, David Walton, and more. The event was
sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, rag & bone, and United
Talent Agency, with additional support from Esquire. The
event wasgenerously underwritten
by Bruce Bozzi and Palm Restaurant. Fatherhood
Leadership Council members and lunch guests promoted the
initiative by posting photos with #BabyBuggyFatherhood @LoveRecycled.
“The combination of the gear we provide and the services
offered by our partners has shown incredible positive
results helping fathers on their journey to becoming better
dads,” said Baby Buggy Vice President of National Programs,
Dr. Laurel Parker West. "Because of our generous supporters
we will be able to add four new fatherhood program sites,
expand our services and provide more meaningful experiences
for fathers and their children, and measure the impact of
our work to ensure our partnerships are working smarter and
are highly tailored for our dads."
In total, through its two New York and Los Angeles events,
the Baby Buggy Fatherhood Initiative has raised nearly $500,000.
Since May 2010, Baby
Buggy has distributed 338,060 items through 17 different
programs to over 20,383 dads and their children. In
Los Angeles, the Baby Buggy Fatherhood Initiative works with
fathers through The Children's Institute, Inc. (CII), a
non-profit serving at-risk children and families affected by
child abuse, neglect, domestic violence, and gang and
community violence. CII’s Project Fatherhood includes
thirteen different programs offered at different locations
in the Los Angeles area. These culturally diverse programs
offer a comprehensive range of services including individual
and family counseling, job training, financial literacy,
healthy marriage workshops, anger management training,
parent-child enrichment activities, legal workshops and
consultations, as well as employment assistance.
The Baby Buggy Fatherhood Leadership Council is comprised of
fathers who are deeply passionate about their own role as
dads, and they will help raise funds and awareness for the
initiative. Council members include Jerry
Seinfeld (Chair), Jason
Alexander, Jason Bateman, Neil Blumenthal, Matt Bomer, Bruce
Bozzi, Rob Buccini, Ty Burrell, David Burtka, Christian
Carino, Matt Cherwin, Camille Chidiac, Common, Mark
Consuelos, Shawn “Pecas” Costner, Victor Cruz, Matt Damon,
Robert Downey, Jr., Eric Eisner, Jack Essig, Spike Feresten,
Alex Gorsky, David Granger, Simon Halls, Neil Patrick
Harris, Kevin Hart, Hugh Jackman, Mitch Jacobs, Jaha
Johnson, Woody Johnson, Boris Kodjoe, Jay Leno, Greg
Lippmann, Blaine Lourd, Steve Mosko, Nas, David Neville, Rob
Prinz, Michael Richards, Bob Saget, Adam Scott, George
Shapiro, George Stephanopoulos, Steve Stoute, Michael
Strahan, Michael Tiedemann, James Van Der Beek, Dwyane Wade,
Marcus Wainwright, George Wallace, Howard West, Mel Woods,
and Jeffrey Wright.
ABOUT BABY BUGGY
Founded by Jessica Seinfeld in 2001, Baby Buggy takes an
innovative, child-focused approach to curbing generational
poverty. By tying access to critical child gear items to
parental enrollment in anti-poverty programs, Baby Buggy
provides for the safety and health of a child while parents
get the long-term support they need to help lift the family
out of poverty. To date, Baby Buggy has provided over 8
million items to more than 139 anti-poverty program sites in
17 markets. For
more information, visit
www.babybuggy.com
Baby Buggy received its fourth 4 Star Rating from Charity
Navigator in 2014.
You can
follow Baby Buggy on Twitter and Instagram at: @loverecycled
and on Facebook at Baby
Buggy
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