Campaign for King memorial holds fundraising dinner

A committee of Ventura County business and community leaders, whose goal is to raise $1 million to help pay construction costs for the new Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C., will host a fundraising dinner at 7 p.m. Thurs., Feb. 15 at the Hyatt Westlake Plaza, 880 S. Westlake Blvd., Westlake Village.

UCLA basketball coach John Wooden is honorary chairman of the event. The keynote speaker will be the Rev. Clinton A. Benton, an educator and longtime civil rights activist in Los Angeles who was a contemporary of King's.

The winner of the Ventura County Star's "Why Dr. King Deserves a Memorial" speech contest will address the audience, and singer Jeanne Tatum and Quintet will provide musical entertainment. A Hindu dance team also will perform.

Tickets are $150 per person, or $1,500 for a table of 10. The Ventura County Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Campaign, the event's sponsor, urges local businesses to sponsor individual tables.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the memorial were held on Nov. 13 last year. Scheduled for completion in the spring of 2008, the $100 million crescentshaped memorial will stand on four acres in the National Mall, across the tidal basin from the Thomas Jefferson Memorial and near the Abraham Lincoln Memorial.

The memorial for the civil rights leader is being funded through private donations.

The Ventura County committee was formed last fall. Supporters include Dennis Fenton, executive vice president of Amgen; Gregory W. Jones, president and CEO of State Farm General Insurance; and members of the Ventura County Alumni chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha, a national fraternity of which King was a member.

If $1 million is raised, Ventura County's MLK Campaign will be recognized on the memorial's donor wall.

Individuals and businesses wishing to contribute should send checks to the Ventura County Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Fund, c/o Ventura County Community Foundation, 1317 Del Norte Road, Ste. 150, Camarillo, CA 93010-8504.