The Game of Giving Back

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.