MUMBAI: Two-time Academy Award-winning actress Jodie Foster will present The Trevor Founders Award at the organization’s annual Cracked Xmas event. The Trevor Project (Trevor) is a non-profit organization that operates the nation’s only around-the-clock suicide prevention helpline for gay and questioning youth.
Foster will present the award to two of the organization’s founders, director Peggy Rajski and screenwriter James Lecesne. The award will be presented in recognition of the tenth anniversary of the first Cracked Xmas benefit and in memory of the organization’s third founder, producer Randy Stone, who passed away unexpectedly in February of this year. The presentation will take place at Cracked Xmas 10, to be held on 2 December, 2007 at the Wiltern Theatre in
Foster’s support of the organization is both extensive and longstanding. In 1994, she was the first major donor to provide support for the production of the short film Trevor. In June 2007, in support of the organization and to honor her close friend Mr. Stone’s memory and spirit, Foster kicked off a new $1,000,000 call center fundraising campaign with a major gift, the largest in the organization’s history. And, in addition to presenting The Trevor Founders Award, she appears in a short film that is a tribute to Stone, which will be shown at the event as part of her presentation.
Said Foster, “I am extremely pleased to have the opportunity to present the first Trevor Founders Award to Peggy and James in memory of my dearest friend, Randy. Their inspired decision to establish this vital organization and their ongoing commitment to saving young lives are indeed worthy of recognition. The very fact that, after ten years, Trevor continues to pursue its mission so successfully is a testament not only to the founders’ initial vision, but also to the importance of the organization’s efforts to help desperate young people realize that their lives have value.”
Trevor tells the story of a teenager who attempts suicide after realizing that he might be gay. The film received numerous awards, including the 1994 Academy Award for Best Short Film (Live Action). The Trevor Project was founded by Rajski, Lecesne and Stone in 1998 immediately preceding the first nationally televised airing of the film.
When HBO decided to televise Trevor, the filmmakers recognized that some of the program’s teenaged viewers might be facing the same kind of crisis faced by the film’s lead character and began to search for the telephone number of an appropriate support line to broadcast during the airing. Discovering that no such resource existed, they decided to dedicate themselves to forming The Trevor Project to aid in suicide prevention among of gay and questioning youth. The organization immediately opened The Trevor Helpline (Helpline), which became the first and only nationwide around-the-clock suicide prevention helpline for that group.
The Trevor Project, founders, Rajski and Lecesne stated, “We are deeply honored to receive The Trevor Founders Award, and know Randy shares it with us in spirit. It’s extraordinarily gratifying to know that the small non-profit we set up has grown into an organization that now saves lives every day, through its Helpline, its website and the educational materials it sends to schools across the country. We look forward to the next decade during which Trevor will further expand its outreach in order to meet the growing demand for its critical work.”
In 1998, The Trevor Project held its first annual Cracked Xmas fundraising gala in order to keep the newly created Trevor Helpline open and available to gay and questioning youth. Now an annual event, Cracked Xmas brings together top entertainers to help raise financial resources necessary to fund the organization’s services. At this year’s event, in addition to Foster’s presentation of The Trevor Founders Award, the organization will present The Trevor Life Award to Emmy Award-winning comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and The Trevor Hope Award to Clear Channel Radio Los Angeles.
