The Crowd: Childhelp fundraiser nets $190,000

In Orange County and around the nation, there is another name synonymous with exceptional cars. That name is Meguiar, the top-selling brand of car wax products in the U.S. and more than 90 other countries. Karen and Barry Meguiar served as honorary chairs of the Drive the Dream gala. Barry Meguiar can be seen as host of "Car Crazy" on the Speed Channel (where else?).

Borne out of deep religious conviction, the Newport Beach residents share a passion for helping the children of Childhelp. For more than 40 years, the Meguiars have been leading supporters of an organization known as Teen Challenge International, with Karen Meguiar in charge of their ladies guild. Soon they will launch a lay ministry they are calling "Revival: Outside the Walls of the Church."

Childhelp, since its founding in the 1950s, has had its roots in a primary connection to Christian charity. Founders Yvonne Fedderson and Sara O'Meara, and many of the board members and donors large and small, profess a serious calling to help children from a religious-inspired direction. The devotion of so many sponsors is more of a calling than a social/community connection. For 50 years, that calling has saved thousands of children, many of whom were considered beyond the scope of care administered by government agencies. Childhelp remains a last stop for abused children with literally nowhere else to go.