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NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release: June 2, 2008
5th Annual Circle of Support Benefit Featured Firoozeh Dumas, Honored Susan Ford Dorsey
Palo Alto, CA -- On May 8, 2008, the Circle of Support Breakfast Committee hosted its fifth annual event benefiting Family & Children Services, the $6.3 million health and human services agency celebrating its 60th year of services in Silicon Valley. At the event, bestselling Palo Alto author Firoozeh Dumas spoke on “Laughing Without An Accent: Building Bridges Through Laughter” and Susan Ford Dorsey, President of the Menlo Park-based Sand Hill Foundation, was recognized for her philanthropic leadership. The event was held at the Crowne Plaza Cabaña Hotel in Palo Alto.
Susan Ford Dorsey currently serves on the Boards of Directors for Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Peninsula Open Space Trust, Menlo School, and Common Sense Media. As President of the Sand Hill Foundation, she oversees a family foundation that has provided more than $52 million in grants over its 12-year history. In her remarks, Ms. Ford Dorsey spoke of the importance and power of our shared humanity: “To me, that is what defines our humanity and makes life worthwhile. To help not only those you know and love, but to help people you don’t even know. If we are lucky in life, we have multiple moments of being touched by such humanity.”
Firoozeh Dumas, author of the bestselling memoir Funny In Farsi and of the newly published book Laughing Without An Accent: Adventures of an Iranian American At Home and Abroad, spoke to a packed ballroom of more than 425 guests about her experience writing stories of her childhood and family. She found that even though her stories are rooted in a family from Iran, individuals from a wide variety of cultures and backgrounds relate to them. This has demonstrated to her that we have more in common than we often expect.
Lead underwriters of the Circle of Support Breakfast included Susan and Bill Friedman, Barbara and John Glynn, and Kristal and Frank Shen. Corporate supporters included Rabbit Office Automation, the Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Foundation, Coldwell Banker Residential Mortgage, Sereno Group Real Estate, and Roskoph Associates.
This year’s event was co-chaired by Susan Friedman of Atherton and Marianne Palefsky of Menlo Park.
Family & Children Services, which has offices in Palo Alto and San Jose and provides services at more than 100 community-based locations, works to build strong, safe, and self-sufficient individuals, families, and communities in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Proceeds from the event support the agency’s counseling, family violence and abuse prevention, and school-based services. Approximately 8,000 children, youth, and adults participate in the agency’s services each year. To learn more about the agency, please visit www.fcservices.org or call 650-326-6576.
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Media Contact:
Maryanne McGlothlin, Marketing Manager
650-326-6576, mmcglothlin (at) fcservices (dot) org
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