Lunch Series Raises Funds for Venice Family Clinic

After giving birth to twin sons in 2003, Alice Manning expected to return to her middle-class life in Santa Monica as the mother of, now, four. But while still in the hospital, a bacterial blood infection struck one of her infant sons, triggering a massive stroke in the newborn.

After multiple brain surgeries and health complications for their baby, the Manning family found itself struggling with rocketing medical costs, 24-hour shifts at the hospital, and three other children who still needed support.

In desperation, Alice Manning turned to the Venice Family Clinic. 

What she found, she said, was more than just medical care for her child. 

"They were my 'mommy' and they were my ally," Manning said. "I was able to get my physical strength back to be an advocate for my son Aidan."

Manning delivered her story Tuesday afternoon to about 100 well-dressed women sitting on picnic blankets and at tables bearing paper-bag lunches at a Malibu estate. The event capped off a three-part Sack Lunch Series aimed at uniting entrepreneurial women in a philanthropic effort to support the Venice Family Clinic.

Arianna Huffington, editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, was the afternoon's guest speaker. (Patch is part of the HuffPo Media Group.) Her main points included the pursuit of possibilities, and the health benefits of sleep and rest.   

Huffington also highlighted her personal connection to the Venice Family Clinic, describing how her daughter interned there.

The Sack Lunch Series has generated more than $40,000 in pledges and donations for the clinic, which treats about 24,000 patients a year, organizers said. Tickets for Tuesday's event cost $50 for those who brought their own lunches and $75 for those who came without and were served.  

Fundraising targets are between $6 million and $8 million annually, said Dr. Elizabeth Forer, CEO of the Venice Family Clinic. With recent declines in state and county funding, the clinic has had to increasingly rely on private philanthropy, she said.

"It's a collective effort of people on the Westside to support monetarily and with time," Forer said.

The series was organized by Chris Griffiths, whose husband, Dr. Chester Griffiths, has volunteered his surgical skills at the Venice Family Clinic for the past 21 years.

The first event, held in April 2010, featured environmental policy lobbyist and Women's Cancer Research Fund co-founder Kelly Meyer. The second, held in November, featured Kathy Eldon, founder of the Creative Visions Foundation, which supports activists making social change.