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Press Release, November 8, 2007

POINT FOUNDATION RAISES RECORD AMOUNT AT SECOND ANNUAL LOS ANGELES GALA

Organization’s Fundraiser Honoring Adam Shankman and ABC Television Network Raises More Than $270,000
 

Click here to view video from the event
 

Point Foundation Contact:

Jennifer Kolmel
323.933.1234
Jennifer@pointfoundation.org

LOS ANGELES, November 8, 2007 The Point Foundation (Point), the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students (LGBT) of merit, today announced that it raised more than $270,000 at its second annual Los Angeles fundraising gala, entitle Point Honors…The Arts. The amount raised came from the sale of live and silent auction items, ticket sales and corporate sponsorships. The fundraiser, sponsored in major part by Washington Mutual, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Motorola, The Advocate, Frontiers and IN Los Angeles magazine, American Airlines, Fiji Water, Sweet Pea’s, NUTRISODA and the Matthew Shepard Foundation, recognized the recipients of the organization’s newly inaugurated honorary awards. Hit filmmaker Adam Shankman received the Point Courage Award; ABC Television Network received the Point Inspiration Award. The event was held on November 3, 2006 at the Jim Henson Studios in Los Angeles.

“We are extraordinarily encouraged by the record-breaking financial results of our inaugural Point Honors event,” said Jorge Valencia, executive director and chief executive officer of the Point Foundation. “By providing Point Scholars with the financial ability to attend the nation’s foremost higher educational institutions, our donors receive the rare satisfaction of directly investing their resources in the academic and personal development of future generations of leaders.”

During the course of the event, Mr. Valencia delivered a stirring and affecting address during which he read an essay written by a potential Point Scholar as part of the organization’s rigorous application process. In the essay, the student described the extraordinary challenges he faced, and ultimately overcame, as a high school senior when his parents disowned him after discovering his homosexuality. Mr. Valencia also stressed that the organization’s work is vital because nearly one-third of LGBT students drop out of high school to escape the trials they face there, a dropout rate nearly three times the national average. As a result, these marginalized students are twice as likely to report they are not planning to pursue a higher education.

The live auction items included a number of exciting items such as a luxurious cruise, a vacation in a spectacular villa in the Mexican resort of Puerto Vallarta, and a dinner for two with Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie and Ana Ortiz.

Numerous celebrities attended Point Honors… The Arts, including Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie, who also hosted the event, T. R. Knight (Grey’s Anatomy), Ana Ortiz (Ugly Betty), Emily Deschanel (Bones), and Brittany Snow (Hairspray). During the gala, Jenifer Lewis (Fresh Prince of Bel Air) sang a powerful rendition of the Hairspray anthem “I Know Where I’ve Been.” Ms. Lewis was backed by the New Dimensions Choir.

The Point Courage Award recognizes an individual who has selflessly advocated for the future of the LGBT community and lives with the vision that investing in today’s potential will produce a brighter tomorrow. The Point Inspiration Award recognizes a corporation or organization that champions respect and inclusion of the LGBT community and operates with the vision that investing in today’s potential will produce a brighter tomorrow.

Students who are awarded the organization’s prestigious scholarships, known as Point Scholars, are selected through a rigorous and highly competitive process that requires a record of demonstrated academic excellence, leadership skills and financial need. This year’s Los Angeles event celebrated the arts and recognized Point Scholars who are currently pursuing education in a diverse variety of artistic endeavors, including music, interior design, architecture, film and the vocal and visual performing arts. A number of these Point Scholars attended the benefit.

About Point Foundation

Point Foundation is the nation’s largest scholarship-granting organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students of merit. Point provides financial support, leadership training, mentoring and hope to LGBT individuals who are marginalized because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Point provides its scholars with the financial ability to attend the nation’s foremost higher educational institutions, its mentors with the singular opportunity to become role models to exceptional students, and its donors with the rare satisfaction of directly investing their resources in future generations of leaders.

For more information about Point Foundation, please visit www.pointfoundation.org. Point Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) organization.