What happens when five friends take advantage of their Hollywood connections to honor their loved ones living with Parkinson’s disease? A $200,000 impact on PD research, that’s what. One of MJFF’s first ever employees and a now TV writer, Justin Sternberg, knew he wanted to re-engage his involvement in the cause after his uncle was diagnosed with the disease last year.
So—together with fiancé Dianna Mannheim of Sony Pictures Entertainment and friends Jacob Fenton of United Talent Agency, Melanie Frankel of USA, and Andrea Kavoosi of The Rothman Brecher Kim Agency—Justin pulled out all the stops to make the inaugural Raising the Bar to End Parkinson’s unforgettable. Held on December 5th at Culver City’s new gastropub, Public School 310, the event welcomed stars from some of this season’s hit TV shows, including The Big Bang Theory’s Kaley Cuoco, Modern Family’s Ty Burrell, New Girl’s Max Greenfield, and Dexter’s Colin Hanks (among many others).
Guests enjoyed a variety of tastes from Public School 310’s menu and mingled with each other as American Idol finalist Casey Abrams performed songs off his new self-titled album. Nearly $100,000 was raised before the event even started and donations are still coming in. Thanks to The Brin Wojcicki Challenge, every dollar they raise this year will be matched, making their total contribution to Parkinson’s research worth $200,000.
A huge thank you to the event committee for exceeding our expectations, we can’t wait to see what’s in store next year!
Photos by Jonathan Liebson: Casey Abrams at top left; Ty Burrell at bottom left; Event Committee at center (from left to right are Melanie Frankel, Andrea Kavoosi, Jacob Fenton, Dianna Mannheim and Justin Sternberg); Max Greenfield at top right; Constance Zimmer and Wilmer Valderrama at bottom right.