Ignore those Houston media people behind the curtain!

ESCAPE Celebrity Serve Benefit to Take Guests to OZ and Back at April 13th Emerald City, There’s No Place Like Home!

KTRK abc13's Tom Koch

The 2014 ESCAPE Celebrity Serve Benefit will take guests to OZ and back Sunday, April 13, 6 p.m., with “Emerald City. . . There’s No Place Like Home!” the theme for its 33rd annual fundraiser. The ever-so-lively dinner and auction will feature an array of costumed TV, radio, sports and society celebrity servers at the award-winning Tony’s restaurant, 3755 Richmond Avenue.

The personalities serve up sparkling conversation with guests in the spirit of raising much-needed funds for ESCAPE Family Resource Center (ESCAPE) programs that help prevent child abuse and neglect in the greater Houston community.

“We look to children’s themes to inspire us for our ESCAPE Celebrity Serve. We’re always mindful that while this is a fun, spirited event for adults, we’re here to help ESCAPE promote happy childhoods by providing intervention, education and support programs to families in crisis,” said Joan Schnitzer Levy, Celebrity Serve Co-Chair with Gerald Franklin for an unprecedented 32 consecutive years.

According to Schnitzer Levy, celebrities who have signed up for emerald-laden serving duties to date include KTRK-TV News Anchor Tom Koch, KHOU-TV reporter Courtney Zubowski Haas, Buzz Lady Roseann Rogers, KPRC Radio Host Michael “High Tech Texan” Garfield, News 92FM’s Bonnie Petrie, mystery writer and foodie radio host John DeMers, Absolutely! Memorial Magazine editor Lara Bell and stylists extraordinaire Edward Sanchez and Todd Ramos.

“This is a fantastic opportunity to meet these personalities in an up-close and personal party atmosphere,” said Franklin. Attire for the evening will be Emerald . . . or anything OZ, just because.

The ESCAPE Celebrity Serve Benefit is a major annual source of funding for the 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and is held in April as part of National Child Abuse Prevention Month. ESCAPE’s mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect before a child is harmed. Founded in 1983 by the Houston-area chapters of The National Exchange Club, the organization relies on private support to prevent and combat emotional, physical and sexual violence towards children.

KHOU's Chita Johnson and Courtney Zubowski Haas
 at a previous ESCAPE event

According to ESCAPE CEO Lidya K. Osadchey, in fiscal year 2013, the organization collaborated with 93 organizations to provide 363 deliveries of child abuse prevention programs and parenting classes in 81 locations in Harris, Fort Bend, Galveston, Chambers and Liberty counties in English and Spanish. In the last 13 years, ESCAPE has increased its program delivery from 116 to 375 and increased the number of parents
and children who benefit from these programs from 2,316 to 5,515.

ESCAPE is committed, both locally and globally, to providing child abuse and neglect prevention programs, court-ordered and CPS-approved parenting classes, parenting support groups, parenting tips and professional training tools that anyone can use to develop positive parenting and co-parenting, appropriate discipline, anger management and conflict resolution skills.

CBS Houston, a division of CBS Radio Inc., has named ESCAPE Family Resource Center the Best Resource For Single Parents In Houston and the Houston Chronicle has designated ESCAPE as one of Houston’s top workplaces for three years in a row.

Tickets to the “Emerald City. . .There’s No Place Like Home!” ESCAPE Celebrity Serve Benefit start at $400. Table sponsorships range from $4,000 to $15,000. For those interested in purchasing tickets or tables, or donating to the live auction, please call Chris Rambeaux at 832-367-9117 or ESCAPE, Sandi Mercado, (713) 942-9500, ext. 14, or go to http://www.learntoparent.org and click on the “Celebrity Serve Benefit.”

(This post taken from a release sent to me by the ESCAPE Family Resource Center)