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A 501 (C) (3) FOUNDATION SUPPORTING DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS
Tax ID 20-3929544

  August 28, 2022

 

 

 
 
 
 

 


 

 

 

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Stay tuned for

The MGA 2023 Virtual Fund Raiser
presented by Malibu Global Awareness

on TBA, 2023

with

TBA

To raise money for

Doctors Without Borders

 

     

              NEWS, ANNOUNCEMENTS, COMMUNIQUS,


Malibu Global Awareness was founded by Dr. Annie Thiel in 2003 in memory of her late husband, Richard Thiel.


Narrative Description of Financial Activities 2003 - 2022


2003:  We formed Malibu Global Awareness in 2003 as a hands-on community fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders. Our committee of 20 paid all the expenses and checks were written directly to Doctors Without Borders. All the committee members did the work, including invitations, programs, flowers and desserts. We earned $68,000 for DWB, mainly because of one large donation from Linda Hamilton.


2004:  The second year, 2004, we again operated as a community group, giving a fundraiser at the Malibu Riviera Country Club and opening it to people outside Malibu. Once again we paid for the overhead out of our own pockets and raised $40,000 for Doctors Without Borders. Both events included food, entertainment, music and dancing. We have worked closely with Doctors Without Borders in the New York office and abided by all their rules. Their staff has come to Malibu and helped with the fundraising event. We could no longer afford to pay the overhead so we explored how to become a nonprofit, tax exempt organization so we could sell tickets to our future fundraisers.  


2005:  No fundraising, but this was preparation year for incorporation of Malibu Global Awareness and adoption of bylaws.  


2006:  Malibu Global Awareness Gala with 420 guests present at Cindy Landon's estate. The MGA fundraiser was among the community's major social events. Louis Gossett, Jr. was the MC at the event. Rick Springfield provided the music. The event was held June 3, 2006 at the home of Cindy Landon, widow of Michael Landon. Malibu Global Awareness honored Dr. Joel Hollingshead, who provided surgical services to people in eastern Ethiopia, Nigeria, Peru and Nicaragua. We made $268,023.89. Expenses were $123,456.47. The check to Doctors Without Borders was $110,000, and net to MGA was $13,056.40.  


2007:  Malibu Global Awareness held their fourth benefit for Doctors Without Borders at the estate of John Garcia on Old Malibu Road. The night consisted of a silent and live auction, music, and food and community togetherness. The event featured Louis Cruz Beltran's salsa music. Michael Nouri of Flashdance fame helped to present awards. Congressman Brad Sherman presented Dr. Annie Thiel, founder of MGA, with a congressional flag. Powers Boothe, MC'd the event. Doctors Without Border President Matthew Spitzer addressed the group. Gross receipts were $185,417.00. Direct expenses were $117,670.00.  Net income was $67,747.00.  The check to the doctors was $60,000. Money going directly to DWB following the fundraiser was $125,000.00.  


2008:  Recession year. April, 2008 - Dr. Thiel's 70th birthday brought in donations. Later, Midsummer Night's Dream event consisted of local restaurants providing Happy Hours with all proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders. July 17 to 20, 2008. At the present time, Doctors Without Borders are sending the MGA money directly to Myanmar and China. In October 2008, MGA was honored at a refugee camp event in Santa Monica. Checks given to MGA totaled $26,375.00. After expenses, all the money was given to the doctors


2009: Midsummer Night's Dream fundraising. Malibu restaurants Taverna Tony's, Sunset, and Charlie's on Tuesday July 14 through Thursday, July 16. A week-long event culminating in a gala at the Peter Koral estate on July 17, featuring the Malibu Rugby Team as hosts, Powers Boothe as MC, Louis Beltran, Salsa King, and the Great Krasini of the Magic Castle. The event was hosted by Peter Koral and Cynthia Delpit. 92 tickets were sold at $125, for a total of $11,500. Tony Taverna, $3,420; Charlie's $225: Sunset, $1,220. Gala, $14,585. Total $30,950.


2010:  This year was a series of many fundraising events at the homes of MGA board members.  Most checks went directly to Doctors Without Borders. MGA earned about $6,715, and we gave DWB $3,307.00. The radio shows and the many fundraisers earned approximately $50,000.

January - Three Monday night interviews on the Dr. Annie show with Dr. Sharmilla Shetty to raise money for the crisis in Haiti.  

February - Fundraiser at Crystal and Joe Peterson's house. Speaker, Dr. Miles Spar from DWB. 

March - Valerie King's fundraiser, March 25. Speaker, Dr. Tonya Arora.  

April - Second interview with Dr. Shetty on the Dr. Annie Thiel Show.  

May - New York fundraiser hosted by Barbara King at the Ritz Carlton. Speaker, Dr. Dean Marchbein. Interviews with Dr. Spar, Dr. Shetty and Dr. Arora on the Dr. Annie Show to raise funds for Haiti.

June - Fundraiser at Boaz and Metia Brizman's house. Speakers: Emily Wolfe and Dr. Sara Carpenter.  

July - Midsummer Night's Dream - Tony's Taverna and Terra Restaurant.  

October - Angela Lee Harris Foundation for Screening Young Women for Breast Cancer, October 17 on Hornblower Cruise, Marina Del Rey. Telethon on Dr. Annie Show.

December - Day of Beauty at Prive Salon in Malibu.


2011: Two small fundraising events to help victims of Japan's tsunami disaster. Both events were held at Farima Damavandi's home on Old Malibu Road. The first event focused on "Children Helping Children." Heavily attended by Malibu families. The second one was a book signing event of the novel "My Malibu Death" by Amy Weitman. All books were donated by author Amy Weitman. MGA had a great turnout.  All checks went directly to Doctors Without Borders.


December - Holiday fundraising party at Judge Dana Henry's home in Calabasas. Live/silent auctions, multi-musical event.

  

The Japanese earthquake event raised $4,190. $450 in checks was sent directly to DWB. MGA sent a check for $3,000. We made $8,000 at Dana Henry's party and we have paid bills for Carol Cavella, the attorney Bill Staley, and insurance premiums out of that money so far. And Brothers Once, by Dr. Richard Thiel, selling on Amazon.com with proceeds going to Doctors Without Borders, has earned $37,000 since 2003.


2012: Onward and upward! May 31, 2012 we held our 9th fund raiser featuring the English Beat. We honored Michael Joseph Ruotolo (1980 - 2011) and Andrew Johnston (1989 - 2011). Our MSF/DWB speaker was Dr Myles Spar. We raised $33,400.


2013: We had a Salon with a MSF/DWB speaker hosted by Patrick DeCarolis, Esq. Planning was begun for our major anniversary fund raiser, called "The Chandler Ball."


2014: In February MGA held the Chandler Ball in the 100 year old Santa Monica Bay Women's Club building. A smashing event, the minimal proceeds from the event plus $263738 in "After The Ball" donations pushed MGA's total raised for DWB to a new high.


2015: Many small events securing donations for DWB.


2016: The year was devoted to establishing our MGA Junior Board, the first of its kind, culminating with speakers at High Schools across Los Angeles.


2017: Spring Fundraiser hosted by Damessa Wakeling and Valerie King. In the Fall the Junior and Senior Boards supported the Doctors Without Borders exhibit, "Forced from Home," on the beach in Santa Monica.


2018: Board members did individual fund raising of $23,000.


2019: DWB "On The Road" awareness event, Shutters Hotel, Santa Monica. November 1, 2019, hosted by MGA.


2020: The year of Covid-19. Everything changed!


2021/2022: Going forward into planning a 2022 or 2023 fund raiser for MSF/DWB.


SUMMARY:  Our total fundraising efforts have earned over $1,000,000. The two estate galas and the 2014 Ball had large expenses. All expenses for the first two fundraisers were paid by the board members themselves. In the Midsummer Night's Dream years at the restaurants, the money went directly to the doctors. In 2011 at the two mini-fundraisers, 95% went to the doctors. 

 

FINANCIALS & ADVERTISEMENTS:


Dear MGA Supporters & Friends,


Welcome back from the terror years of 2020, ' 21 & ' 22.


Throughout the world, we have experienced a nightmare of such proportions not seen for over one hundred years.


But now we can breathe a bit easier, with caution.


Some of us passed away: Errol Ginsberg of Covid-19, a staunch supporter of MGA. A brilliant and generous soul. We will miss him and forever love and thank him for his service.


Jodi Johnson: Selfless, kind and generous. She supported MGA since its inception: Rest well sweet Jodie. We miss and love you.


Olivia Newton-John: A founding member and staunch supporter. We mourn along with the whole world. We will miss the lovely voice and the loving and generous soul.


Some of us suffered Covid-19 and survived; and are again healthy today.


Some of us lost family and haven't even officially buried them yet.


Some of us worried 24/7, and worry still.


Many of us volunteered at food banks, donated to food banks, or both.


The isolation and loneliness for some was a daily struggle. For others it was a longing for more isolation due to family all being together - often too many people in one house.


But here we are - still here: At least physically all here if not mentally. Can we live life without fear again?


Well, we can try, and we can model ourselves after Doctors Without Borders.


We can help others: It's always the solution to fear and isolation.


To that end, MGA is in the initial phase of planning a major 2022 MGA Virtual Fund Raiser for MSF/DWB.


Welcome back!


Much love,


Annie


- - - - - - - - - -


40 Rector Street, 15th Floor New York, NY 10006-1705 

Tel: (212) 679-6800 Fax (212) 679-7016 

Web: www.doctorswithoutborders.org 

June 2021 


Dear Dr. Forisha-Thiel, 


I hope this Insider Letter finds you well and, furthermore, fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and feeling more hopeful about the future. 


As we mark the 50th anniversary of Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) this year, our experience in quickly responding to sudden onset emergencies tends to draw the most attention. The year 2020 tested our stamina to maintain lifesaving humanitarian programs in more than 70 countries amid a global pandemic, and there was no time to rest before 2021 hit us with one crisis after another. 


The ferocity of each new emergency has been breathtaking. In Tigray, Ethiopia, staff have witnessed violent attacks and the looting of health facilities, while providing essential medical care to thousands of families forced from home. The catastrophic management of the pandemic in Brazil pushed many of our most experienced aid workers toward the Amazon basin. Then, a devastating second wave of the Corona virus in India thrust the Doctors Without Borders staff into suddenly managing COVID-19 hospital wards in Mumbai, even as the virus breached their own households. The team in Gaza worked fervently to provide care in emergency rooms and operating theaters as bombs and rockets rained down, including an airstrike that damaged our trauma and burn care clinic. 


Thanks to millions of generous supporters like you who contribute to our general funds, we have honed a capacity to anticipate urgent scenarios and a commitment to rapid action. Our effectiveness in emergencies sets us apart. We have also been able to sustain our response to longstanding emergencies, such as the global refugee crisis. 


On June 20, we mark World Refugee Day with a renewed sense of urgency, sharpened by recognition of the growing challenges facing climate migrants. The World Bank predicts that by 2050, 143 million people will be migrants escaping climate-related harms such as extreme weather, crop failure, food and water scarcity. 


We have often struggled, in our 50 years, to recognize the signs of slow-onset emergencies. A couple of years after I joined MSF in 2006, a few of us scattered across different continents developed an interest in how humanitarian responders might need to reassess our operational risk analyses in order to respond to the climate crisis we used to call global warming. The documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," featuring Al Gore, had burrowed into our consciousness with ominous animations of the effects of rising sea levels. Scientists were sounding the alarm about calamities like desertification, water scarcity, and food insecurity and yet there was no widely felt sense of urgency in MSF the way there is now. 


Today we're among the humanitarian organizations gaining fluency in a domain known as planetary health, which spans multiple threats from the climate crisis to those posed by pollution and environmental degradation. Improving our response to the ways environmental changes impact human health is one of our strategic pillars. 


It also took MSF a long time to fully appreciate what we were witnessing of the disastrous consequences of failed policies toward refugees and migrants. We have a long history of working in camp settings with people who were forced to flee for a variety of reasons including, but not limited to, violence and persecution. Recent years have revealed the intersection between planetary health and human displacement like never before. 


One of the most acute humanitarian crises in the world is unfolding across the Sahel region, with some 2.9 million refugees and another 2 million internally displaced people uprooted by extreme violence, poverty, and food insecurity, all of which are exacerbated by climate change. In Madagascar, MSF has sounded the alarm as famine looms in the south following years of calamitous drought, sandstorms, and deforestation. Entire villages are emptying out as people abandon their arid lands in search of food and livelihoods. 


In Honduras, back-to-back hurricanes in November 2020 caused severe flooding and landslides that destroyed homes and infrastructure in the north, where more than 4 million people lived. Extreme weather has exacerbated already dire living conditions and is affecting the pattern of vector-borne diseases, such as dengue fever. MSF scaled up its dengue outbreak detection and prevention response with improved water and hygiene services and mosquito control activities. We know that climate change is one of the factors that can drive the spread of mosquito populations and, with them, the spread of disease. (The dramatic increase of dengue worldwide is believed to be partly due to climate shifts among other causes. In recent years, MSF has responded to dengue outbreaks in countries including Honduras, Burkina Faso, Pakistan, and Yemen.) 


Things were already hard enough in Honduras before the storms and the economic devastation caused by the pandemic. After the hurricanes: No more homes, no more work, no government support to speak of. When you cannot feed your family, you might pack up and start walking to Mexico as the only viable option. Our teams are working in Honduras and along the migration route to provide medical aid to the growing number of people displaced by multiple emergencies. 


Doctors Without Borders will continue to do everything we can to meet these humanitarian needs as they arise, while also challenging ourselves to live up to the medical creed "Do No Harm." I'm proud to say that our global movement recently committed to do more to respond to climate change and environmental degradation, including to: 

  • *  Bear witness to the disproportionate impacts felt by vulnerable groups
  • *  Adapt our humanitarian responses to continue to deliver high-quality care and improved public health, while also minimizing ecological damage and conserving finite natural resources
  • *  Develop partnerships to share medical operational data about planetary health, and to prioritize research that improves our understanding of the humanitarian and health impacts of climate and environmental changes
  • *  Measure, report, and set targets to minimize the carbon and waste footprint of every Doctors Without Borders entity and project
  • *  Identify the best levers to reduce carbon emissions and enable efficient, sustainable resource use, while continually improving our high-quality patient care.

Since the outset of the pandemic, we often heard and repeated the phrase, "We're all in it together." 'Ibis statement of heartfelt solidarity might also suggest the option to be passive, to just let things unfold as they will. For 50 years, and in no small measure thanks to your generous financial support, Doctors Without Borders has consistently challenged ourselves and others to act. We step up to pull each other through. 


We could not do what we do without you. On behalf of my colleagues working tirelessly around the world, I offer our heartfelt thanks for your continued support.


Wishing you a summer filled with good health, lots of love, and laughter, 


Avril Benoit Executive Director


Doctors Without Borders / Medecins Sans Frontieres USA 


Avril.Benoit@msf.org 


www.DoctorsWithoutBorders.org


 

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ABOUT MALIBU GLOBAL AWARENESS

Malibu Global Awareness (MGA) is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) (tax ID #20-3929544) organization dedicated to humanitarian aid, disaster relief and medical treatment worldwide. The charity Foundation was founded in 2003 by Annie Thiel, PhD, in memory of her late husband, Dr. Richard Thiel, an active supporter of Doctors Without Borders for over 20 years.

Since its inception, Malibu Global Awareness has grown into a world-class organization consisting of 25 members and over 400 supporters. The steadfast dedication of MGA's volunteers has contributed to the successful distribution of vaccines, medical equipment, and qualified doctors to over 70 countries and into the most remote areas of the world through Doctors Without Borders.

Doctors Without Borders received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 for its outstanding response to famine, epidemics such as malaria, AIDS, and the casualties of war. Through its compassionate works, countless children and families are given food, shelter and a chance for survival.

Thank you for helping us support Doctors Without Borders and their important work throughout the world.

 


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