On Sunday, July 22, 2007, Life Rolls On (LRO) Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for young people affected by spinal cord injury (SCI), will host its single-largest fundraising event of the year, the 4th Annual Night By the Ocean Gala (NBTO) presented by Disaboom, at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The black-tie event will feature a live and silent auction, dinner, entertainment and special award presentation to television producer Gary Scott Thompson.
“We are really raising the bar this year,” said LRO President Josh Billauer. “We have a fabulous location, an enthusiastic umbrella sponsor, Disaboom and an abundance of support from the entertainment and action sports industries. We look forward to making this our best event in the history of the organization.”
Oscar-nominated actress Minnie Driver and eight-time world champion professional surfer Kelly Slater, will co-host more than 500 celebrities, elected officials, corporate partners and community advocates. This year’s gala will proudly salute the work of producer Gary Scott Thompson and his hit NBC-show “Las Vegas” for its positive portrayal of the SCI community in the media.
The event will raise crucial funds to help support LRO’s key initatives, including “They Will Surf Again,” an adaptive surfing program for those with spinal cord injury and an opportunity for able-bodied individuals to get involved with the organization. A portion of the funds raised during the NBTO event will go directly towards research aimed at finding a cure to SCI and related conditions. A fervent ambition of LRO is to work on changing the stigma of people with SCI by channeling its message through the media, speaking engagements, public service announcements and one-on-one interaction to ultimately demonstrate that life with a spinal cord injury does indeed “Roll On.” LRO founder, Jesse Billauer and LRO ambassadors will be on hand throughout the evening to share their stories and support for the foundation.
“Life Rolls On is a strong community partner to Disaboom and to the SCI community at large,” said Lori Frisher, VP of Marketing and Business Development. “We are proud to be part of this event and look forward to a long successful journey with this first class organization.”
Since its inception in 2003, the NBTO event has raised over one million dollars. Past NBTO guests include: Jason Mraz, Morgan Spurlock, Amy Smart, Rob Machado, Ziggy Marley, Sal Masekela, members of the band Incubus and more.
To purchase tickets, donate items for the auction, or for more information, please visit www.liferollson.org or call (310) 807-5488. Due to the intimate setting of the event, space is limited.
About Life Rolls On
Life Rolls On is a non-profit 501(c) 3 foundation that exists to be a grassroots resource that provides hope and is an advocate on behalf of young people whose lives have been affected by spinal cord injury (SCI). In addition to building awareness about SCI and funding research to find a cure, LRO creates quality of life programs utilizing action sports to demonstrate what is “possible” in circumstances that seem “impossible.” Life Rolls On: Instilling in people that life with SCI does, indeed, roll on. For more information, visit www.liferollson.org.
About Disaboom
Disaboom, Inc. was founded to develop the first interactive online community dedicated to constantly improving the way people with disabilities or Functional limitations live their lives. It will also serve as a comprehensive online resource not only for people living with such conditions, but also their immediate families and friends, caregivers, recreation and Rehabilitation providers, and employers. There are more than 44 million American adults living with disabilities or functional limitations today in the United States alone. Founded and designed by doctors and fellow disaboomers to meet this untapped market’s specific needs, disaboom.com will bring together content and tools ranging from specialized health information to social networking to daily living resources, in a single interactive site. The site is scheduled to launch in September 2007.
