The Game of Giving Back

It took the encouragement of singer David Mason to persuade Michael Bolton to take his yearly charitable event on the road. After 17 years of benefit concerts in Connecticut, Bolton is moving his annual fundraiser to Ojai, Calif., where the inaugural Michael Bolton and Dave Mason Benefit Concert and Celebrity Golf Classic will take place on Sept. 26 with a star-studded lineup on the stage and on the links.

Bolton combines his passion for golf and his mellow love songs to raise awareness and funds for at-risk women and children through his organization, Michael Bolton Charities, a group he founded 17 years ago when he first achieved celebrity status. “I was a city kid,” he says. “As I traveled the United States and the rest of the world, I saw the same horrors facing children and women at-risk due to poverty and violence in staggering numbers. I established the Michael Bolton Charities.”

As Bolton’s celebrity status grew, charitable organizations often asked him to lend his celebrity and perform at benefits to help raise money for different causes. “He did that for a number of different organizations and after a while he just realized that maybe he should focus on issues that are important to him and start his own foundation,” says Jacqueline Smagna, executive director for the Michael Bolton Charities.

Since its launch, Michael Bolton Charities has raised more than $6 million for causes close to Bolton’s heart. At the center of the foundation’s fundraising efforts is an annual event, which began as a celebrity tennis event with Chris Evert and Andre Agassi, evolving to softball matches with Joe DiMaggio, and eventually, it grew to fill a 1,500-seat concert venue in Stanford, Conn., three years ago. This year marks the first time the foundation will tackle the West Coast, with a benefit concert and golf tournament in Southern California.

The Ojai Valley Inn & Spa will hosts the one-day event that kicks off with a golf tournament at the Ojai Country Club. The day’s itinerary includes silent and live auctions featuring musical memorabilia and a cocktail and awards reception that leads into an evening of entertainment with journalist, author, and co-host Joan Lunden as mistress of ceremonies. “She has been our master of ceremonies ever since the inception of the MBC,” Bolton says of Lunden. “She is unwavering in her commitment and no matter how full her plate is, she shows up informed and carries out her duties and the program seamlessly.” Lunden first became interested in the foundation after Bolton appeared on Good Morning America around the time his musical career was taking off. Bolton describes her as an invaluable resource who can rattle off statistics about domestic violence and at-risk women and children.

The night culminates with a concert with Mason, a close friend who has performed for the benefit for the past four years, and Bolton, who promises several surprise musical guests. “I am told that several of my songs serve as inspiration to many who need to get back on their feet, or who feel lost or alone,” Bolton says humbly. “My personal feelings always make their way into my music and it is one of the prominent ways that I express these feelings.”

After the concert, the musical duo will host a private reception for sponsors and celebrities, including confirmed guests such as Kenny G, Paul Williams, John O’Hurley from Seinfeld, Jeffrey Donovan from Burn Notice, Matt McCoy, and Major League Baseball player Bret Saberhagen. The ballroom at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa is expected to be sold out.

A portion of the proceeds from the event will benefit Yoga Blue Inc. and the Bogart Pediatric Cancer Research Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. Yoga Blue, based in Ojai, teaches yoga to people in recovery from substance abuse and domestic violence, while the century-old Bogart program treats the most seriously ill and injured children in Los Angeles. When the Michael Bolton Charities decided to move the event to California, Bolton wanted to give back to groups that directly benefit the local community, a theme the organization returns to yearly.

Overall, Michael Bolton Charities is dedicated to helping at-risk women and children through education and programs designed to create social awareness. It also focuses on child development and the prevention and intervention of abuse to lessen the damaging effects of poverty and emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. Since it was created, the Michael Bolton Charities also supported organizations that provide direct services to those in need.

Soon, the foundation hopes to create a Family Justice Center in Connecticut that will be based on the model in Brooklyn, N.Y. The goal is to create a one-stop shopping center of support services for domestic violence victims and their families. Once federal funding is obtained to build, the center will offer counseling, legal aid and law enforcement assistance, shelter, interfaith counseling, and a wide variety of other on-site services.

Bolton continues to devote much of his time and efforts to drawing attention to domestic violence, personally dedicating resources to enlist others to “raise their voices for zero tolerance on the issue.” Since 1993, the Michael Bolton Charities has disbursed millions to organizations across the country, including The National Domestic Violence Hotline in Texas, Prevent Child Abuse in Illinois, and Yale Child Study Center in Connecticut, to name a few. “It has been extremely gratifying meeting, befriending, and working with people who also feel that giving back and helping people less fortunate than ourselves is simply the right thing to do,” Bolton says. He plans to continue his invaluable work with the organization for as long as he can, he says, “hopefully until it is no longer needed.”

What The Inaugural Michael Bolton and Dave Mason Benefit Concert and Celebrity Golf Classic

When Sunday, September 26

Where Ojai Valley Inn and Spa

Itinerary Tee-off at 9 a.m.. Day of golf includes breakfast, lunch, and a cocktail/awards reception.

6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.: VIP/Sponsor cocktails & hors d’oevres and a silent auction.

7:30: Evening of entertainment will feature Joan Lunden as Mistress of Ceremonies, a Live Auction with Auctioneer Tom Gross and performances by Michael Bolton and Dave Mason along with their bands and Kenny G. Lisa Niemi Swayze will receive The Michael Bolton Charities’ Lifetime Achievement Award, and comedians Tom Dreesen and Jackie Flynn will provide lots of laughs. Following the concert, Michael and Dave will host a private reception for sponsors and celebrities.

How Sponsorship opportunities range from $5,000 to $25,000.

Golf Foursome: $5,000

Individual Golfer: $650

Benefit Concert Ticket: $500

For more information, visit www.michaelboltoncharities.com, e-mail [email protected], or call 203.483.6463.