Hakkasan Las Vegas Restaurant and Nightclub Fights Hunger with Three Square
I’m hungry. We say it in different forms all of the time, but how many of us truly know what it is to have “hunger” without the means to satisfy it? In Southern Nevada, over 340,000 people, 130,000 of which are children, have had to know what it’s like to be hungry and insecure as to if and when they will be able to eat. Three Square, along with its many partners in the community, work to provide meals to these men, women and children daily.
As a kickoff to it’s “Hakkasan Gives Back” initiative, Hakkasan Las Vegas Restaurant and Nightclub donated $5 to Three Square for each diner over the course of December 2013. In addition, employees individually raised contributions for the campaign resulting in a donation of more than $50,000 to the local food bank in January. “I was just talking to my 6-year old son this evening about having a snack before dinner,” said Three Square’s Chief Development Officer Matt Muldoon “and I realized how lucky he is to have that basic need, as so many others do not,” he continued. “One in six are struggling with hunger in our community. What Hakkasan has given us today will allow us to serve more than 150,000 meals to those in need. It’s a huge step towards helping us achieve our goals.” Hakkasan staff also volunteered at Three Square’s South Warehouse in mid-December, where they packaged a total of 10,000 meals to-go for the Kid’s Café©, 1,500 bags of food for “Backpacks for Kids,” and 130 Senior Share Boxes.
For more information on Hakkasan visit www.hakkasan.com/lasvegas. For more on Three Square visit www.threesquare.org.
Spread the Word Nevada and Bank of America
According to recent studies, children who are not reading proficiently by fourth grade are four times more likely to drop out of school before graduating. That’s a scary number, and one with profound impact on the stability of our economy and the quality of life of our children as our country moves forward. A local non-profit, Spread the Word Nevada, is doing its part to ensure low-income students in our community are not a part of that statistic. With a mission to inspire children one book at a time, the organization has donated over 2.5 million books to 343,000 children in our school district, inspiring hundreds of thousands of young people to learn, stay in school and graduate.
On February 10, 2014 at The Smith Center, Bank of America presented a check for $200,000 to Spread the Word Nevada as a recipient of its highly competitive annual Neighborhood Builder’s grant. In addition to the grant the Neighborhood Builders Program awards executive leadership training to high achieving non-profit organizations around the country that have made a significant impact addressing needs related to community development, critical needs or workforce development and education. Spread the Word Nevada says it plans to use the grant to extend its school year reading program into the summer months and expand its offerings into new schools. Currently the organization serves 29 schools in at-risk and low-income areas around the city.
For more information on book donation and volunteering for Spread the Word Nevada visit www.spreadthewordnevada.org. For more information on the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Program visit www.bankofamerica.com.
Get Outside on the West Side
We’re lucky to have an early spring in our hometown. Make sure to take advantage of it in your neighborhood with these outside events on the West side.
Golf Summerlin and Golf 101 Clinics
If you’re thinking of hitting the links this spring but feel a little rusty, the deal from Golf Summerlin is the perfect way to get back into Phil Mickelson shape (OK…maybe not really!) For only $100 total, the following weekly clinics are a hole-in-one.
Co-ed Clinics
March 4 – Intro/putting
March 11 – Chipping/Short Game
March 18 – Irons
March 25 – Woods
Women Only Clinics
March 6 – Intro/putting
March 13 – Chipping/Short Game
March 20 – Irons
March 27 – Woods
Clinics will be held at Eagle Crest Golf Course (2203 Thomas W. Ryan Blvd.) and individual clinics can be purchased for $30 per person. Visit www.golfsummerlin.com for more information.
Tour De Summerlin
If the saddle is more your style, the annual Tour de Summerlin should do the trick. Benefitting Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada (www.candlelightersnv.org) this non-competitive 40, 75 or 100-mile ride is one of the most beautiful around.
If you’re a little nervous at the thought of a 40-mile ride, joining the Riders for Candlelighters cycling team is your way to train with the experts! The training program is designed for individuals interested in completing an endurance event, no experience required. Participants commit to raising $1,000 for Candlelighters in exchange for a customized training program, which includes a training manual, bike repair, nutrition and hydration clinics, weekly team rides, a team pasta dinner and team jersey. Visit www.candlelightersnv.org for more information.
An entry fee starting at $65 for early registration includes an event commemorative shirt, aid station food and drinks and delicious post ride luncheon. Visit www.tourdesummerlin.com for more information.
Culture Clash – International Fun in Our Backyard
If you’re looking for a little diversity without the airline travel, April in Southern Nevada should be right up your alley! Festivals and parties celebrating cultures from all over the world are popping up right here at home.
April 5-6
Vegas Loves Brazil 2014
Rio All Suites Hotel & Casino, 3700 W. Flamingo Rd.
The largest Brazilian festival in Las Vegas is coming back and this time with a two day festival at the Rio Hotel parking lot. Tickets for the event are $8 for general admission and $13 for a two-day pass. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day. Visit www.vegaslovesbrazil.com for more information.
April 12-13
10th Annual Las Vegas Highland Games
Floyd Lamb Park, 9200 Tule Springs Rd.
Presented by the Las Vegas Celtic Society, this Scottish-themed event includes a unique mix of the sporting, the cultural and the social such as field and track events. Tickets start at $12.50 for general admission in advance. Visit www.lasvegashighlandgames.com for more information.
April 17-20
13th Annual Pure Aloha Concerts & Festival
Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino, 3700 W. Flamingo Rd.
Celebrate the power of the islands with this celebration of Hawaiian culture featuring a carnival with midway rides, cultural performances, specialty food and retail vendors and concerts. General admission tickets start at $8. Call 604-9438 or visit www.vizzun.com for information.
April 26
5th Annual Día del Niño
Springs Preserve, 333 S. Valley View Blvd.
Celebrate childhood as they do in Mexico with this annual event offering hours of fun for children of all ages, including clowns and magicians, dancing and singing, games, traditional food and drink and much more. Call 822-7700 or visit www.springspreserve.org for information.
Editor’s Picks – March/April 2014
March 7-14
Restaurant Week
Help out by dining out at the seventh annual Spring Las Vegas Restaurant Week. A foodie’s dream and a dieter’s nightmare, the weeklong slew of prix fixe menus at restaurants around the city will definitely pack on the fun…and the pounds. But hey…it’s for a good cause so get your running shoes on and kill those extra calories to get the most out of the festivities. Diners are able to enjoy meals for prices ranging from $20.14 up to $50.14 with a portion of the proceeds benefitting Three Square. Since its inception, Restaurant Week has raised $786,000 and provided over 2.3 million meals to those in need. For a full list of participating restaurants visits www.helpoutdineoutlv.com.
March 13-16
48th Annual Sons of Erin St. Patrick’s Day Parade & Festival
Dust off your “Kiss Me I’m Irish” t-shirt and prepare for green beer as you celebrate the luck of the Irish with this time honored tradition in downtown Henderson. Drawing thousands of visitors each year, the parade starts on Ocean Avenue and will travel down Water Street to Victory Road. The accompanying festival features a carnival midway, food booths, souvenir and merchandise vendors, an Irish beer garden and much more. Be sure to warm up your dancing legs as you’ll also enjoy live entertainment, including Irish music and dance, swing, jazz and Broadway show tunes. There’s something for everyone, whether you’re a true “Son of Erin” or just pretending! Call 267-2171 or visit www.hendersonlive.com for more information.
March 30
Wag-A-Tail Walk-a-thon
Load up the four-leggeds and head to Centennial Hills Park (7101 N. Buffalo Drive) for this annual event sponsored by the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society. Featuring one and two mile walks, vendors, food and games, special exhibits and giveaways, dog contests and much more, it’s a perfect way to spend a weekend outside with your loved ones (furry or not) and mingle with fellow pet lovers. Who knows, you may even find a new play pal for Buster. Even better? Proceeds benefit homeless, abused and abandoned animals. Call 257-9668 or visit www.lvvhumane.org for registration and info.
April 10-13
Clark County Fair & Rodeo
It’s time to blaze a trail out to Logandale for this annual extravaganza, where you can experience the thrills of a traditional rural Nevada fair. Festivities include carnival rides, a junior livestock show, horticulture exhibits and an endless parade of arts and crafts that cover everything from ceramics to furniture to photography. Over 500 of the nation’s top rodeo athletes will compete in steer wrestling, team roping, barrel racing and more as they battle it out for cash prizes. You’ll also find plenty of food, drinks and live entertainment, so dust off your boots and saddle up for this Wild West adventure! Call (888) 876-FAIR or visit www.ccfair.com for more information.
April 25-27
22nd Annual Las Vegas City of Lights Jazz/Rhythm & Blues Festival
Get your funky soulful groove on at this annual event that brings thousands of jazz, blues and R&B lovers from across the country to the Clark Country Government Ampitheater (500 S. Grand Central Parkway). The three day show will feature headliners such as KEM, Boney James and 10 Time Grammy Award Winner Chaka Kahn. The event will also include food and craft vendors (even more than last year), public bar, surround sound and space for dancing and enjoying the music. VIP, Early Bird Tickets (sell out quickly) and general admission tickets, more information and additional featured artists are now available at www.yourjazz.com.
April 26
Great Vegas Beer Festival
Cicerones rejoice! The 2014 Great Vegas Beer Festival is making its way to Downtown Las Vegas, bringing with it a surplus of tasty suds. Benefitting the Nevada Craft Brewers Association, the daylong event will feature beer tasting from local and national breweries (think Alaskan Brewing Co., Goose Island, Stone, Lagunitas and more), a gastropub with expert pairing, beer demonstrations, food trucks, live music…need we say more? You had us at beer! The foam and fun go down at the Fremont East Entertainment District, with tickets for general admission starting at $35 until the day of the event. You can also purchase Early Entry and VIP tickets for $45 and $75 respectively. Visit www.greatvegasbeer.com for more information and to purchase tickets.
Child Prodigy Ethan Bortnick Performs at 18th Annual Chabad of Summerlin Gala
Child Prodigy Master Ethan Bortnick Performs At Chabad of Summerlin Gala
On March 9, 2014 at 7 p.m. the Chabad of Summerlin will hold it’s 18th Anniversary Gala, including a very special guest, 13-year-old Ethan Bortnick.
Ethan is a child prodigy, pianist, composer, songwriter, actor, musician and one of the youngest philanthropists in the world. A natural musician, he began playing a keyboard at the age of three, and was composing music by five.
In his short life, Ethan has already achieved incredible success, including performing next to greats such as Beyoncé, Natalie Cole, Smokey Robinson and Patti Labelle in addition to being featured on television shows such as Good Morning America, The Tonight Show, Oprah and more. The youthful sensation has traveled worldwide including South Africa, Brazil and Australia for performances, and remarkably has left his mark in history as the youngest musician to create and host his own award-winning nationally-televised concert special on PBS called THE POWER OF MUSIC.
This performance in Las Vegas is his second, the first resulting in yet another record broken, as Ethan became the youngest entertainer to headline a sold out show (did we mention he also holds a Guinness World Record as well?) Most recently, Ethan completed shooting, co-writing, scoring and starring in a full-length feature film called Anything is Possible. Not bad for 13 years!
The Chabad of Summerlin Gala takes place at the Adelson Educational campus theater on 9700 Hillpointe Rd. For more information or to purchase tickets call 855-0770.
La Bandera – Cantina Laredo
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Spring Fever
We caught a bit of spring fever this month and in our delirium found some of the craziest news stories from around the world. Thought we’d share the insanity for your enjoyment.
Alabama received hundreds of calls in 1998 after its state legislature voted to change the scientific value of Pi (3.14159) to the “Biblical value” of 3.0.
Pluto (back when it was a planet) passed behind Jupiter in 1976, creating a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Earth to experience a decrease in gravitational pull.
Residents in Australia were perturbed when news broke that the country would soon be converting to “metric time.” Under the new system there would be 100 seconds to the minute, 100 minutes to the hour, and 20-hour days.
In 1981, as reported by the Daily Mail, Kimo Nakajimi entered the London Marathon thinking the race was 26 days instead of 26 miles. Many reported Nakajimi running throughout Europe, determined to finish the race.
Lifting off in 1934, German pilot Erich Kocher flew through the air with a device powered solely by his breath. His landing gear? A pair of skis.
Fans of Burger King hailed the announcement of the Left-Handed Whopper in 1998, which had rotated condiments so they would fall off the right side of the bun.
Operation Parallax, first reported by London’s Capital Radio, called for the cancellation of April 5 and 12 in 1979 in order to resynchronize the British calendar with the rest of the world.
Orlando Sentinel in Florida reported on the Tasmanian Mock Walrus, said to be four inches long, resembled a walrus, purred like a cat and had the temperament of a hamster.
Legendary pitcher Sidd Finch, a rookie for the New York Mets, appeared in Sports Illustrated in 1985 after throwing a 168 mph pitch although he had never played baseball. Instead, he learned his craft at a Tibetan monastery.
Swiss farmers excitedly witnessed history in 1957, with the first ever Spaghetti harvest. A mild winter and the absence of the pesky Spaghetti Weevil allowed for the noodles to grow in abundance.
Brigette Kelly-Kirvin
By Callie Thomas
If you weren’t in your present career and could pick any job at all, what would you choose? 89144 resident Brigette Kelly-Kirvin, had an opportunity to explore just that after working as a successful marketing executive, first in Los Angeles and then in Las Vegas. It’s interesting how life can actually guide you toward a path you didn’t expect. Brigette’s journey would lead her not only to becoming a wife and mother of two, but also provide the opportunity to leverage her passion for running marathons to serve as a board chair for a non-profit program called Girls on the Run.
Although a longtime Los Angeles resident, the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Southern California was enough to motivate the Kirvins to move to Las Vegas. After working for IBM, NeXT Computer and the Motion Picture division of Eastman Kodak in L.A., Brigette continued her marketing career in Las Vegas as Marketing Director for Steven Spielberg’s DIVE restaurant, followed by launching the Coca-Cola Company’s retail store and attraction on the Las Vegas Strip. When her second child was on the way, she decided to take a hiatus from full-time work and take on “special” projects. The projects that came to her were family-focused and assisted the community. Instead of leading marketing teams, she found herself in charge of Girl Scout troops, running marathons for children’s charities and becoming PTO President at her children’s school. It also led her to the Girls on the Run Program, which provides 3rd through 8th grade girls with 12 weeks of fun, fitness and life skills training through interactive lessons and running games. The program has provided Brigette Kelly-Kirvin with the opportunity to combine two of her passions. She talks about giving back, how it has affected her life and inspired her own family to serve the community.
How did you get involved with the Girls on the Run Program?
“The exposure to kids as a classroom volunteer and parent leader helped me to tap into a passion that I didn’t know existed during my corporate life. My passion for running and for children collided when I discovered the Girls on the Run local chapter. I volunteered as a coach for several seasons and Director of their 5K. I accepted a Board of Director’s position and now act as Board Chair.”
Tell us about the 5K event.
“The program culminates with a community 5K run that celebrates these girls and their accomplishments. This spring, the 5K is April 27 at Kellogg-Zaher Soccer Complex in Summerlin. Anyone can come out and run with us and we’re always looking for volunteers too. Visit www.girlsontherunlv.org for ways you can help.”
Any experiences you’d like to share?
“Being a coach and race director feeds my soul. To lace up my shoes alongside pre-teen girls and watch the perils of adolescence melt into the pavement with every lesson and every foot strike gives me boundless joy. Crossing a 5k finish line for the first time is life-changing for many of these girls. Witnessing them grow in character and confidence along the way is life-changing for me.”
Any other organizations you support within the community?
“Another group that is near to my heart is the Downtown Boys & Girls Club. It’s located in one of the most impoverished areas of Las Vegas. A group of us help keep its doors open by identifying partners to help with funding issues. I enjoy organizing special events.”
What are you most proud to have accomplished?
“Raising two amazing kids, Emily and Jack with my husband Dave Kirvin, growing Girls on the Run Las Vegas from eight girls a few seasons ago to over 100 today and helping the Downtown Club.”
Has your involvement with these organizations influenced your own family?
“There’s never been a Las Vegas Girls on the Run 5K that didn’t see the entire Kirvin family out in force. It’s all about a labor of love, and building a family legacy of service is important to me.”
Brad & Kristen Mainor
By Callie Thomas
There’s nothing that would make a parent happier than to know they’ve reached “superhero” status in their child’s eyes. For 89135 residents Brad and Kristen Mainor, it is their 9-year-old son Sullivan (Sully) Mainor that will be forever remembered as the superhero in the family. Their son was killed in a tragic accident on January 15, 2013. Rather than focusing on the circumstances of his death, the Mainor family and friends are keeping his memory alive by helping other children in the community in his honor.
Sully Mainor is remembered for his kindness, giving nature and contagious laugh. Even at an early age he always wanted to give his own money to the homeless and hungry throughout the valley. His former school, Ober Elementary, has created a special award in his honor called “The Sully Mainor Kindness Award.” Students can receive the award for being exceptionally kind and caring throughout the school year.
As a means of dealing with their grief, the family decided to make a donation in his honor to organizations that would benefit other children on the 15th of each month. Sully’s favorite thing in the world was superheroes, particularly Spiderman and The Hulk. Their friend’s 9-year old daughter came up with the “Superheroes 4 Sully,” which has become the name of their charitable giving. Their mission became clear: They would collect new superhero themed toys, clothing, blankets, etc. and give them to needy charitable organizations including the KLUC Annual Toy Drive, Peggy’s Attic, Boys and Girls Clubs and others. Superheroes 4 Sully’s first donation was to the Ronald McDonald House on February 15, 2013. Since that time, they’ve received about 5,000 dollars in donations that benefitted more than 1500 children across the valley. Brad and Kristen Mainor talk about coping by giving, the generosity of the community and taking one day at a time.
How does it feel to help other children in the community?
Kristen: “Seeing children light up when they are allowed to pick new clothes or a new toy is heartwarming and would make Sully proud.”
Brad: “Being born and raised in Vegas, it means a lot to help our local kids. Personally it helps to pass each day without Sully, knowing we are remembering him in such a positive way, giving as he loved to do in this city that he loved.”
How are donations distributed?
Kristen: “The bulk of the clothing and toy donations go to Peggy’s Attic and are given to foster kids in the valley. Many come through the court system with only the clothes on their backs. They get to pick something new and are told the items have “Sully Power.” The kids fighting cancer are given Superhero blankets and soft pillows.”
You made a big impression at the KLUC Toy Drive last December.
Brad: “Through word of mouth and social media, our tiny charity managed to collect 10 bikes and over $500 worth of toys which were donated to the KLUC Toy Drive.”
Kristen: “It touched us to receive donations from strangers and friends alike who had followed our first grief-stricken year and were moved to help and share in honoring Sully by helping the community. There are wonderful, generous people in Las Vegas.”
What are you most proud to have achieved?
Brad: “One of our proudest moments was when our daughter Taylor initiated a Superheroes 4 Sully Donation Drive during senior week. At the assembly Taylor and her sisters Hannah, Sydney and Avery stood up and spoke to the student body about Superheroes, Sully and the kind of brother he was. To see our daughters honor their brother and get involved in this charity fills us with such pride.”
What does this charity mean to you?
Kristen: “It is a way to give back, honor our son and fill the hole in our lives left by his death. Big or small the act of giving in Sully’s name will be our monthly tradition. We thank the community for their support both emotionally and with contributions and hope to spread Sully Power for years to come.”
