After School All-Stars Event
I am really excited about the event I am hosting at The Commerce on May 20th for After School All Stars. ASAS is an after school enrichment program for at risk youth founded by Arnold Scrwarzenegger. I hooked up with them after meeting Ben Paul, their Executive Director, when we were talking about partnership between ASAS and Decision Education Foundation. During those discussions, I had the pleasure of doing a site visit to one of the schools in East LA. It is amazing what this organization does for these kids. The programs they offer include Rock Band, Guitar, cheerleading, hip hop, basketball and more. They also provide homework support which is so needed for these kids. I was so impressed and we decided at the time to put on a poker fudnraiser to raise money for this amazing organization.
After some fits and starts with organizing the event (don’t get me started) things appear to be smooth sailing mostly due to Teresa Chien from ASAS and the amazing Diana Donofrio who is the Nevada State Director of the Poker Players Alliance and a dear friend. Brian Cooley also stepped up and really pitched in helping get prizes and Katie Lindsay did the same and got a bunch of celebs to commit as well. I managed to get Don Cheadle to commit as well as some other folks like Ali Nejad and Josh Malina among others. It is really coming together and I hope will be a great success. First place is a $10K seat into the main event of the WSOP generously donated by UB.net They are also donating gift bags.
Here’s the press release on the event. Please join me and make this a huge success!
The Best Female Poker Player in the World Plays for the
Strongest Governor in California
Annie Duke Celebrity Poker Night To Benefit After-School All-Stars
Los Angeles, CA – April 27, 2010 – A seat to the 2010 World Series of Poker Tournament and a personal Segway is up for grabs at Annie Duke’s next charity poker tournament. In support of After-School All-Stars, Governor Schwarzenegger’s after-school nonprofit for at-risk youth, Duke is hosting a celebrity-filled tournament on May 20th, 7:30 pm, at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, California. Special guests include Don Cheadle (Iron Man 2), David Zayas (Dexter), Sara Rue (Eastwick), and many more. With UB headlining sponsorship of the event and dozens of product sponsors, players will be playing for nearly $35,000 in prizes and bidding on $20,000 in silent auction items. Entries for the tournament are $250 per player with $100 re-buys and $75 for non-players, all proceeds going to After-School All-Stars. For more information or to reserve a seat, go to www.afterschoolallstars.org/poker, or contact teresa@afterschoolallstars.org.
Additional confirmed celebrities to-date include: Trishelle Cannatella (The Real World), Jennifer Elise Cox (The Brady Bunch Movie), Rafe Furst (poker player), Scott Ian (Anthrax), Adam “Roothlus” Levy (poker player), Tiffany Michelle (poker player), Shanna Moakler (Meet the Barkers), Joshua Molina (The West Wing), Ali Nejad (Poker After Dark), Brian Peeler (Workout). Dianna Donofrio-Trigatzi, Nevada State Director of the Poker Players Alliance will act as Guest Tournament Director.
“ASAS (After-School All-Stars) is simply an amazing organization. The children they serve live in some of the most poverty-stricken areas in the country where their other options are gangs, drugs, or worse,” says Duke. “ASAS not only gives them a safe place to be while their parents work, but also provides them additional support in school work and outlets for expression through extracurricular activities. Poker players can be incredibly generous people, so it was a no-brainer for me that this event should happen.”
Tournament registration includes $1,000 in chips, $10 food voucher for any restaurant at Commerce Casino, access to the silent auction, and a gift bag. On-site registration begins at 6:00 pm.
About After-School All-Stars
Founded by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1992, After-School All-Stars is the leading national provider of high quality, comprehensive, school-based after-school programs that include academic support, enrichment, and health and physical fitness activities. Assisting 80,000 at-risk youth a year, the organization’s mission is to keep children safe and help them achieve in school and in life. Currently, After-School All-Stars operates in 13 U.S. cities: Atlanta, Chicago, Columbus, Dallas, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, San Antonio, San Diego, San Jose and South Florida. For more information, visit www.afterschoolallstars.org
You are awesome Annie – at least Trump was OK in the finals this year !!!!
No cheating at the last minute.
What a great way to engage the community in a good time for a good cause! We hope you’ll consider the Bay Area Chapter of ASAS this year for a tourney. We got plenty of people sharpening their skills on-line that you can put to the test!
Brava, brava!
How I love reading your enthusiasm and understanding. These are children, on the brink — they’ll become joyous adults with a strong hopeful feeling, or get hard harder hardest and eaten up by survival dementia of the area.
It’s so beautiful the influence that a little athletics, arts, music, drama, books and just basic Care can have, in making us human again. I’m looking around my own community, to see what the needs are, and your message is inspiring. All the best! – Jennet