by Nikki Presley Miliband
Well, I certainly never thought I would be writing an article about golf, but here I am doing just that. While I have been known to be an avid skier (snow and water), tennis player, gymnast, along with other sports, golf is not “my thing.” In fact, while I hit a few golf balls several years ago at a driving range, I’ve never played on an actual golf course. Well, all of that is about to change! The Orange County Bar Association’s Charitable Fund (Charitable Fund) has two major fundraising events each year: the Kenneth Lae Golf Tournament, which is on April 1st at the newly reconfigured Santa Ana Country Club, and the Raise Your Glass wine event on August 22nd at the beautiful Newport Beach Country Club. Even though I don’t play golf, I have attended for many years the awards reception for the Kenneth Lae Golf Tournament, and I would encourage everyone who does not play golf to attend this fun and upbeat reception.
As Immediate Past President of the Orange County Bar Association, I have the great honor of being the 2019 President of the Charitable Fund. Because of this, I feel compelled to actually play golf this year and am looking forward to it. My husband and I were recently in Costa Rica for a vacation and I remembered the place we were staying had an Arnold Palmer golf course. I decided I would hire a golf pro to teach me to play while on vacation. Unfortunately, there was a pro-am tournament while we were there and I did not get to play a single hole. My second plan of action was to attend the OCBA travel seminar to Scotland and learn to play in the birthplace of the game. I then learned that you can’t play at the majority of the golf courses unless you are “really good,” which I am decidedly not. Now I have only a short time to try to come up with a plan to learn how to play, but I am determined that I will do so. Anyhow, it’s “best ball,” so I really only need to find teammates who know how to play, right?
Once I start playing, I have a feeling I will be able to identify with the quote by Gerald R. Ford that “I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators.” Hopefully, I will not be hitting any spectators at the upcoming tournament.
I would encourage everyone to attend and play in the tournament or, if you are not a golfer and aren’t ready yet to learn, I would invite you to attend the award reception at the end of the day. This event sells out every year, so register now. We also have numerous sponsorship and underwriting opportunities available. All of the proceeds from the golf tournament go to support pro bono legal providers and legal related charities.
I would like to thank the Charitable Fund’s hard-working and amazing Golf Committee, co-chaired by James Pack of Fragomen and Christopher Ross of Knobbe Martens. They have done a great job organizing this tournament, assisted by their committee: Ashleigh Aitken, John Altstadt, Bill Artigliere, John Beckley, Thomas Bienert Jr., Cathrine Castaldi, Joseph Chairez, Matthew Fletcher, Todd Friedland, Kelly Galligan, Daniel Glassman, Eoin Kreditor, Danielle Mayer, Teresa McQueen, Sarah Nowels, Daniel Robinson, Beau Stockstill, Joseph Ursic, Lucia Valenzuela, and Dean Zipser.
The Charitable Fund was founded in 1995, having previously been OCBA Attorneys Contributing to Society (ACTS) Foundation. As the charitable giving and fundraising arm of the Orange County Bar Association, the OCBA Charitable Fund provides resources to organizations and programs in order to enhance the system of justice and promote equal justice for all. The Charitable Fund is the philanthropic arm of the Orange County Bar Association, overseeing and administering all charitable giving for the OCBA. The Charitable Fund is dedicated to bettering the Orange County community and legal profession by facilitating access to justice. This goal is achieved by making monetary contributions to carefully selected Orange County law-related organizations.
Since 2003, the Charitable Fund has given grants totaling almost $2 million to pro bono legal providers and legal related charities, which does not even count the funds the OCBA provides to pro bono legal providers from the proceeds of the OCBA Lawyer Referral Information Service (LRIS). In that same time frame, the OCBA has given $583,200 to Constitutional Rights Foundation-Orange County and $547,500 to the Public Law Center (again, not including the LRIS funds given to the Public Law Center), making them the top two grant recipients. Prior to when the Charitable Fund expanded its giving with a formalized grant application process, the Public Law Center and the Constitutional Rights Foundation were two of the few programs that received funding. This year, the Charitable Fund will be providing $222,000 in grants to 17 programs as follows:
On February 13, 2019, the OCBA held a grant reception where each of these grants were awarded. Congratulations to the award recipients!
I hope to see you on the course on April 1st at the Santa Ana Country Club. And if you hear me yelling “fore,” be sure to duck!
Nikki Presley Miliband is the 2019 OCBA Charitable Fund President and a trust and estate litigator at Good Wildman. Reach her at nmiliband@goodwildman.com.