Salute to Student Health moves audience, raises awareness
Former L.A. Trust Student Advisory Board member Irma Rosa Viera brought many to tears as she shared, “broken bits and all,” at The L.A. Trust Salute to Student Health.
More than 200 healthcare providers, educators and civic leaders met at Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles and online September 30 at The L.A. Trust Salute to Student Health. The gala raised awareness and funds for student health and honored former L.A. Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner and Community Health Director Dr. Margaret Lynn Yonekura of Dignity Health-California Hospital Medical Center (see story).
Will Grice of Kaiser Permanente, board president of The Los Angeles Trust for Children’s Health, noted that “we meet at a difficult time. But as hard as this pandemic has been on our healthcare workers and educators, it has been even tougher on our children.” Grice said, “The L.A. Trust is the backbone organization that brings all the pieces and all the players together” for student health, and introduced Executive Director Maryjane Puffer, whom he called “the backbone of The L.A. Trust.”
Puffer acknowledged the pandemic’s toll. “Schools were closed, clinics were shuttered, hospitals were overwhelmed and there were long lines at food banks. Twenty-five thousand of our fellow Angelenos died.” She said many nonprofits, including The L.A. Trust, “faced an existential crisis.”
“We persevered,” she said, “knowing the kids needed us more than ever.” She said The L.A. Trust was “stronger than before the pandemic hit,” and noted The L.A. Trust had just welcomed eight new employees. “In the comings months we will impact more students and families, and deliver more policy and programs, than ever before.”
Moving remarks
Rosario Rico, health analyst for L.A. County Public Health and former associate program director at The L.A. Trust, introduced the night’s featured guest speaker, Irma Rosa Viera, an undergraduate at Cal State Northridge and a former member of The L.A. Trust Student Advisory Board at Elizabeth Learning Center.
Rosa Viera said she had “wanted to seem cool, calm and collected” in her remarks, but her work as a Student Advisory Board member had taught her something more important — how to “feel unapologetically me, broken bits and all.”
Rosa Viera then held the audience rapt when she discussed the personal toll COVID-19 had taken on her community, her family and herself.
“On June 15, 2020, I saw my older brother Oscar for the last time as he gasped for air while forcing his body to go to the hospital,” she said. “I just knew he wasn’t coming back.” She said the months that followed his death from COVID have been hard.
“The version of me that finds herself feeling lonely and endlessly crying knows that I have a support system,” she said. “Through learning about the services offered at our Wellness Center in high school, I have been able to use that knowledge and seek therapy, join support groups and understand my grieving process. I have learned that even when times are tough, we are tougher.”
Her emotional remarks brought some to tears and prompted a standing ovation.
Bidding for good
Sponsors for the event included Presenting Sponsor, John and Louise Bryson; Platinum Sponsors, The Anthony & Jeanne Pritkzer Family Foundation and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation; and Gold Sponsors, Kaiser Permanente, Goldman Sachs, and Dr. Margaret Lynn Yonekura.
Silver Sponsors were the California Community Foundation, Delta Dental, William Grice, Jimmy Iovine, L.A. Care, Tangram Interiors, and The Winebaum Family Foundation; and Bronze Sponsors, Anthem Blue Cross, Big Smiles, Jordan B. Keville of Davis Wright Tremain, Drew Hodgson, Health Net and Liberty Dental.
The evening included a Silent Auction and an entertaining Live Auction featuring trips to Africa, Hawaii and Mexico. “Fund-a-need” pledges helped raise thousands of dollars for The L.A. Trust’s student engagement programs. Moved by the evening’s program, Dr. Robert Ross of the California Endowment pledged $10,000.
“We are very grateful for all who came and all who gave,” said Anna Baum, director of development and communications for The L.A. Trust. “Thanks to our sponsors, attendees and bidders, we raised more than $200,000 to fund our programs in the coming year. More important, we brought attention to the need for student healthcare.
“I am especially proud of Irma and the former Student Advisory Board members in our video, who showed everyone what The L.A. Trust mission is all about.”