Celebrities Tell ‘Christmas Stories’ to Benefit Underserved Children  

Scientology Celebrity Centre stages its 29th annual fundraiser for Hollywood Police Department youth development programs.

The Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre presented “Christmas Stories” December 4. Cast members including Jenna Elfman (Fear the Walking Dead), Erika Christensen (Parenthood), Jason Dohring (Veronica Mars), Michelle Stafford (The Young and the Restless) and Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson) performed holiday-themed skits to benefit the Hollywood Police Department’s youth development programs for at-risk youth. Show proceeds also support the Hollywood Police Department’s annual toy giveaway for underserved children.

 

Christmas Stories, presented in a 1930s-style radio show setting featuring performances of traditional and original stories and songs, is now in its 29th year. The annual benefit has raised more than $460,000 for these community programs since it began in 1993.

Hollywood police youth programs are operated by the police officers themselves and include educational, recreational and athletics activities as an alternative to gangs. This approach furnishes positive role models for Hollywood youth while providing leadership and life skills.

The toy giveaway is organized in cooperation with the Hollywood community and public schools. Each year, police officers personally deliver hundreds of toys to children and their families who would otherwise have no Christmas gifts.

On stage at the start of the show’s second act, in front of a packed, socially-distanced house, LAPD Hollywood Division Commanding Officer Captain Brent McGuyre accepted a $20,000 check from Celebrity Centre Vice President, Greg LaClaire.

“We present ‘Christmas Stories’ each year to support our police officers in their efforts to create a safe environment for children in Hollywood,” said LaClaire. “Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard believed ‘When children become unimportant to a society, that society has forfeited its future,’ and it is with that in mind that we have organized this benefit for the past 29 years.”