Joely Fisher, Matthew Perry & Jennie Garth: A Night of Stars With Lili Claire

Jen Smith
Fancast.com

If you’ve never heard of the Lili Claire Foundation, you will soon. Fancast attended a celeb-heavy benefit dinner-slash-concert held on October 3rd in Santa Monica, California to honor the foundation. The celebs may have helped this cause insert itself into our radar, but it’s the story behind the glitz and glamor that really held our interest. The founders, Keith and Leslie Resnick, named the foundation after their infant daughter Lili Claire who passed away from a neurogenetic birth defect. That was more than ten years ago, but the Resnicks have continued to grow the foundation from its roots to help children with the same conditions.

The Red Carpet
Of all nights for the rain to pour, Mother Nature chose this night. LA needed the rain, but the hair could have gone without. With the rain came a slight chill, but I was well-prepared with a sweater. The first celebrities of the night arrived just as the sun was going down. I didn’t get their names, but for good reason. They were dogs! Why dogs? Because children love dogs and they are better behaved than the paparazzi.

Next up, the human celebrities started arriving.

First up were the Massey brothers; Christopher Massey stars on Nickelodeon’s “Zoey 101” and Kyle Massey is the star of Disney’s “Corey in the House.” They cracked jokes about fellow teen stars like Zac Efron, like “he smells like peaches and strawberries.” They also admit that as role models to young children, it’s important to teach their fans about giving back.

“For some people it takes a family member getting some sort of illness for them to support that cause,” Chris said. “I feel like you should support it anyway because there’s somebody out there that’s experiencing this every single day.”

Such wise words for a young man. Then even more celebs started rolling in… Friend’s famous Matthew Perry (the event’s host), Bradley Whitford , Micky Dolenz , and Sara Rue worked the red carpet. The entire cast of “Rules of Engagement” was there. That’s right… the entire cast! That’s virtually unheard of. I didn’t get a chance to talk to David Spade or Bianca Kajlich, but Megyn Price and Oliver Hudson had nothing but kind words to say about the night’s festivities.

“We’re here to support Lili Claire,” Hudson said. “Her life and death has brought this (event) to fruition and saved lives. I have a little baby too, so it hits home a little harder.”

Price added that many charities out there are too big with too much red tape. She said this one is one of the few that has a direct line between the donations and the people who need it.

“When you give to this foundation you give to the people who need the resources. There are a lot of bad charities out there and this isn’t one of them,” she said.

Because the night ends with a concert, the evening’s musical acts also showed up for the press line. Musical guests included Collective Soul and Gwen Steffani’s main squeeze, Gavin Rossdale.

The Dinner/ Awards Ceremony

Upon entering the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, I was swept away by the décor. Red and white balloons were everywhere; and to my surprise, animal enclosures were also set up with bunnies and kittens. I already loved this and I wasn’t even fully inside yet! The place was decorated beautifully, with amazing lighting effects and lilies gracing every table. The stage displayed the inspirational message “Special Needs Children Inspire a Special Kind of Love.”

As I sat at my table in the back of the room (which was a great way to monitor the goings-on), I immediately dug in to my salad while chatting up my table mates.

As I mentioned earlier, Matthew Perry was the host of the night. Naturally, he came out swinging. He first decided to give us a few “fun facts” about Santa Monica. Fun fact #1: Santa Monica is translated from the Spanish “Saint Monica.” I know, big difference. Fun fact #2: “Boy, is OJ Simpson an idiot.” I can always count on Matt Perry to bring the funny. He also introduced Joely Fisher by saying he lost his virginity to her sister. I presume that was a joke! Joely sang a beautiful rendition of “Dream a Little Dream,” which was Lili Claire’s favorite bedtime lullaby.

Throughout the dinner, presentations were made to the honorees of the evening. They were Zach van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht of Sony Pictures Television, Steve Borowski or Metropolitan West Capital Management, and Pierre Cossette of Cossette Productions. The event’s title sponsor, Simon G. Jewelry, presented Leslie Resnick with the very first “Lili’s Dream Necklace.” It was a gorgeous gold and diamond necklace adorned with a lily flower. It will be available for purchase at Simon G. stores across the country with all proceeds going to the foundation. Jennie Garth rounded out the dinner portion of the evening by auctioning off a diving experience in the Florida Keys worth over $10,000. It was sold for a bargain price of $4500, which will also go straight to the foundation.

The Concert

Gavin Rossdale was the headlier of the night. Not only was he spreading the word of his new solo act, but he was also spreading the word of the Lili Claire Foundation.

“As entertainers, we provide our part of the evening,” he said. “It’s humbling to be a part of it. Just come in, do our thing, and try not to screw up.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.
To find out more about the Lili Claire Foundation, visit the website at
www.liliclairefoundation.org