The Foundation for the Children of the Californias annual fundraiser is being held for the first time in La Jolla on Wednesday, Oct. 6, and the event will feature 12-time Grammy Award-winner Emmylou Harris. The Country Music Hall of Fame inductee will give her first-ever San Diego private performance at 6:30 p.m. on the lawns of the estate of Joan Waitt. The proceeds will help fund construction for an inpatient unit and additional surgery suite in the Hospital Infantil de las Californias. Located less than a mile south of the border in Tijuana, the hospital provides low- or no-cost healthcare for children living in both California and Mexico. The hospital is the only one of its kind in the region, said event spokeswoman Peyton Robertson, providing about 35 medical services from more than 200 specialists — 75 percent of whom are volunteers. To date, Robertson said, the hospital has performed more than 300,000 patient visits and more than 6,000 pediatric surgeries, the most common of which are orthopedic, ophthalmologic and clef palette procedures. Wednesday’s event will include a sit-down dinner and silent auction in which attendees have a chance to win tickets to New York Fashion Week and a week’s stay at a private estate in Pebble Beach, Calif. The fundraiser will be produced by Redfearn & Associates, an event production company that has turned out high profile La Jolla fundraisers such as a private Hall and Oats concert last year benefiting juvenile diabetes. The company has also produced two other fundraisers at Waitt’s estate, one this year featuring rock legend Pat Benatar and another last year featuring singer-songwriter Jewel. Steve Redfearn, head of Redfearn & Associates, said the Oct. 6 concert will be particularly special for him, as his son is both the stage manager and godson of Emmylou Harris. Redfearn said he helped promote one of Harris’ first concerts while in college at California State University, Long Beach and then he worked as a tour manager for the then-upcoming country star. He said he was on the road with Harris when his son was born. Redfearn holds around 40 events a year, but he said “the moon and the stars aligned for this one.” Tickets for the event can be purchased online at www.usfcc.org for $300 per person and sponsorships begin at $5,000. For more information, call the foundation at (619) 298-KIDS.
