AUCTION FOR A GOOD CAUSE —Thousand Oaks residents George and Patricia Jones view the items in the recent silent auction at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Conejo & Las Virgenes Gala Dinner and Auction. The annual fundraiser was held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village. More than 600 supporters of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Conejo & Las Virgenes attended the seventh annual Stand Up for Kids dinner and fundraising auction last month in Westlake Village.

The clubs serve 1,300 boys and girls from Calabasas to Thousand Oaks. This year’s event was at the Four Seasons Hotel and more than $230,000 was raised.

Bidding on silent auction items was followed by the main program, which included a live auction and musical performances by the Westlake High School vocal group A Class Act. Jamie Kaufman, a young singer from the Redwood Club, also performed. The local comedy duo of Mac and Jamie took the stage as well.

The clubs occupy school campuses from Calabasas to Thousand Oaks, including Los Cerritos, Colina and Redwood middle schools in T.O. and Sequoia Middle School in Newbury Park.

The newest site is at Chaparral Elementary School in Calabasas, Club Chaparral. Plans call for the opening of two more clubs in the Las Virgenes Unified School District, one at A.E. Wright Middle School in Calabasas and the other at Lindero Canyon Middle School in Agoura Hills.

“It’s an incredible place to be with my friends before and after school,” said Sarah Brecht, winner of the 2009 Boys & Girls Clubs Youth of the Year award.

Bruce Jenner, the 1976 Olympic gold medal winner and a local resident, gave the evening’s motivational speech.

“I firmly believe that deep down in our souls we have that champion within,” said Jenner, a commercial spokesperson and star of E! Network’s reality show “Keeping up with the Kardashians.”

“You are making a difference in their lives, and that is why with young people today it is so important that we have to motivate them and help them find that one true thing,” Jenner told the audience.

Visit www.bgcconejo.org for more information about the local Boys & Girls Clubs.