The Crowd:

The 19th annual Celebrity Chef Dinner, sponsored by Share Our Selves, welcomed the crowd recently to an early Sunday night dinning experience at the Hilton Hotel, Costa Mesa.

The dining event has become an important staple on the Orange County social calendar, attracting a large and enthusiastic crowd coming together to raise funds in support of the work of SOS.

“In sharing our selves one to another, we can create a community where kindness, mercy and justice are not words, but the experience of our lives,” said SOS Executive Director Karen McGlinn.

A large and dedicated committee that included Minnie Ballard, Sheri Blackwood, Kathleen Bruski, Louise Stewardson, Patti Nesbit, Mary Moyer, Shannon Burns, Ashley Carlton, Scott McKown, Karen McGlinn, Jason Coulston, Bill Cowles, Leslie Cowles and Julie Larson made the evening possible. Also working hard were Keith Lambert, Karen Harrington, Keri Follmer, Elaine Echenique, Jeff Eile, Elizabeth Evans and Emily Evans.

More than 300 guests donated in excess of $230,000 net to support the SOS Orange Aid Project, which collects retrievable food from restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries and caterers to distribute to low-income Orange County citizens.

Celebrity chefs have become social superstars.

The crowd clamored over the lineup of culinary stars, which included Bert Agor of Ruth’s Chris Steak House, Franco Barone of Antonello Ristorante, David Man of the Island Hotel, Alan Greeley of the Golden Truffle, Carlito Jacson of the Yard House, Louie Jocson of Pacific Prime Inc., Michael Kang of 5’, Chad Krahling of Hilton Orange County, Rich Mead of Sage Restaurant & Sage on the Coast, Ken Mukai of Yoshi’s Sushi, Alessandro Pirozzi of Cucina Alessá, and Paul Squicciarni of the Orange County Wine & Food Center.

The evening began as guests arrived entering a jazzy supper club atmosphere with song stylings by Bill Chico and the Traveling Trio. Dinner was served in the ballroom — five exquisite courses paired with appropriate wines — and followed by a successful auction led by Michael Villani.

Finally, sponsor Black, Starr & Frost of South Coast Plaza donated three valuable pieces of jewelry to cap the evening with an opportunity drawing.

One of the highlights of the fundraising included a special promotion by the Yard House, where guests could donate a monthly amount to SOS of $25 or more, and the Yard House would give each donor a gift certificate for $25 for each monthly donation. This generous gift from the Yard House brought in $28,500 benefiting SOS.

Major sponsors and underwriters of the dinner included Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, St. Joseph Health System, Fred Siegel Foundation and platinum sponsor Taco Bell Corporation.

It’s all about innovation. The crowd in support of the Discovery Science Center, Santa Ana will converge upon Gary’s at Fashion Island Thursday for an evening of food, fashion, fun — and a little science too.

The support group is known as the Innovators, and they will come together to hear about the changing trends and influences in the world of fashion, and specifically the science of fashion.

Gary’s is organizing a men’s fashion show, and will be offering discounts on purchases with a percentage of the sales going to the center’s education fund.

For more information on the event, contact Mary Woods at [email protected] or (714) 263-3852.

The Newport Chapter of the National Charity League Juniors got together at the Tory Burch boutique at South Coast Plaza this week for their own version of fashionable fun.

The Charity Leaguers came shopping for a mid-week morning event with 10% of the proceeds going to benefit the National Charity League Juniors, Newport Beach Chapter.

On Wednesday at South Coast Plaza, in a store called Environment Furniture, international socialite Anna Getty will be on hand to sign her new book titled “Dreaming of a Green Christmas.”

Getty, who is known for her exquisite style has written this book to help people reduce their carbon footprint and save money without sacrificing elements of style and tradition of the “great life.”

She has offered to donate 25% of all book proceeds from this signing to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with wine and hors d’oeuvres sponsored by Avanti Café, Frey, Bio Dynamic Wines, ONE Drinks and Krista’s Kupcakery. For more information, call (714) 557-3100.

THE CROWD runs Thursdays and Saturdays.