My celebrity crush

I have a new favorite celebrity. This is rather odd for me; I usually don't recognize most celebrities' names or have any idea what they starred in--nor do I care for that matter! My one requisite L.A. celebrity sighting so far happened on a church visit, where I happened to sit in front of Tim Allen and shook his hand during the greeting time. Unfortunately the greatness of this moment was rather lost on me, as I've never seen Home Improvement and when my roommate freaked out and whispered loudly, "That's Tim Allen!!" I said, "Who?" :P I just hope he didn't hear me!

But now I have met Noah Gray-Cabey, and he's adorable!! Noah is a brilliant 12 year old actor and classical pianist who is currently starring in the TV show "Heroes." He played the part of our celebrity m.c. for today's big Red Cross celebration of our own local heroes, held as a super nice (fundraising!) luncheon at the Pacific Palms resort. It was a fun but exhausting day of hauling boxes, setting up for the event, connecting media representatives with the local heroes that were being honored, and enjoying the videos of the heroes as well as the very tasty lunch, dessert, and coffee. My coworker and I were sitting in the back, and our favorite part was watching Noah act as m.c. and getting to interact with him before and afterwards--and oh yes, our department staff took a picture with him! He came with his mom, and he is so charming, friendly, genuine, and down to earth--and has the most gorgeous black curls (pictures)! Now if only there was a 25 year old version of him! :P

Other than meeting Noah, it was a weird day of contrasts. It's a bit odd to be living among and making friends with the poor and kids from illegal immigrant families, and then to dress up and work a super nice luncheon at a resort with city mayors, powerful business owners, and wealthy folks in attendance. Working in a development (fundraising) department in general provides that contrast, but it's usually not as visible. I'm learning a lot from watching my coworker Amber Aiello, who used to work for Servant Partners and is still part of a church plant they started in a low-income community in Lincoln Heights. For instance, when we found out that some of the people who bought tickets weren't going to show up, and their food was going to go to waste, she asked our event planner to talk to the resort's food manager and try to convince her to box up the extra meals for us to take away. Thankfully the manager was kind enough to grant our request, so now a couple families Amber knows who live in a constant state of food insecurity will be able to enjoy a gourmet meal for free. The more I learn about how the world works, the more I see how the privileged and powerful are given so much nice stuff for free or discounted rates, whereas the poor and working class are cheated and exploited. This is depressing, but it makes me want to learn how to take actions like Amber and use whatever access I have to those with wealth and power on behalf of those in need. Learning how to do this is going to require developing some creativity, a sense of how to ask appropriately, and plain boldness to actually do it!