Last year was amazing and the Sacramento chapter of the American Disc Jockey Association is doing it again! This year we are partnering up with the Sacramento Chapter of the National Association of Catering Executives to promote our 3rd annual dinner and dance fundraiser, benefiting the Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California.  

If you joined us last year, you know that this event has food from the finest caterers in Sacramento, fantastic prizes and auctions, and dancing to your favorite music. All of this for a terrific cause that needs your help. 100% of the net proceeds will benefit the Shriners Hospitals for Children - Northern California.

Shriners Hospitals for Children - Northern California is an 80-bed pediatric hospital, research and teaching center providing comprehensive medical, surgical and rehabilitative care to children with orthopedic conditions, burns, spinal cord injuries, and cleft lip and palate. The Northern California Shriners Hospital is the only Shriners Hospital providing expert medical care in all four care specialties. For further information call (916) 453-2000 or visit to www.shrinershospital.org.

“Whenever I do a tour, it is always meaningful to me because I know what Shriners gave me.  Shriners gave me a chance to make something of my life,” says Scott Leventon, a member of Ben Ali Shrine and volunteer tour guide at the Sacramento Shriners Hospital.

Born with Arthrogryposis, an orthopedic condition that impairs mobility, Leventon was admitted to the San Francisco Shriners Hospital when he was 9 months old and remained a patient until his 18th birthday. 

“They did everything. They worked on my feet. They worked on my back. They worked on my hips, my legs and my arms.  They actually took my left arm and fused it so I can feed myself,” says Leventon, who feels the care he received at Shriners gave him the mobility to function and live independently.

Children born today with Arthrogryposis can seek the expert care provided by Shriners Hospitals.  Leventon says he, too, can play a role in helping those children.  “The alumni can be supportive and teach children with physical challenges how to do things.”

Condition: Arthrogryposis
Occupation: State of California, Department of Health Care Services
Volunteer: Tour Guide at Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California

Megan Ergonis made her first visit to Shriners Hospitals for Children when she was 5 years old. A year later, at age 6, she was fitted for her first myoelectric arm.  Dr. Preston James and Dr. Michelle James guided her through therapy and fitted for a myoelectric prosthesis like the one she wears now.
After graduating from Lodi High in 2003, Megan entered the University of California Berkeley. Early on as a pre-med student, she shadowed Dr. Michelle James and volunteered to be a peer contact for children with limb deficiencies and their parents.

After taking a course in Legal Studies, Megan found out that law was her professional calling. But her heart remained with Shriners. She drove from Berkeley to Sacramento once a week to serve Shriners patients as a clinic craft volunteer, helping kids in the waiting area do arts and crafts projects. She juggled the volunteer assignment with two part-time jobs – one at a restaurant and one at an Oakland law firm.

A May 2007 UC Berkely graduate, Megan is preparing for the law school entrance exam while working as a substitute teacher in the Lodi and Elk Grove school districts. But Megan continues to give back to Shriners as a volunteer.    

Megan Ergonis

Condition:Upper Limb Deficiency
Patient: Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California & San Francisco Shriners Hospital
Occupation:Substitute Teacher Preparing for Law School
Volunteer:Outpatient Clinic at Shriners Hospitals for Children

Daniel Palmer says his career inspiration came as a patient at Shriners Hospitals for Children. 

Born with club foot, Palmer’s care at Shriners Hospital began as a toddler and continued until his 18th birthday.  Surgeries, casts and several braces made by the orthotics team were all part of his treatment plan.

In 1999 Palmer returned to Shriners, where he volunteered a summer in the orthotics department. Even after working other jobs, Daniel’s experience at Shriners tugged at him. Now, he is working in the Orthotics & Prosthetics Lab with some of the technicians who made his braces when he was young. 

“My goal is to become a certified orthotist,” Palmer says.

Daniel Palmer

Condition:Club Foot
Occupation:Orthotics & Prosthetics Technician
Volunteer:Shriners Hospitals for Children

“A burn injury is not the end of our dreams,” says Dulce Vega, who was admitted to Shriners Hospitals for Children in December 2001, after being severely burned on her face and hands by a house explosion in Nogales, Mexico.

“I have a new appreciation for life because I learned that you can die at any moment. But I especially enjoy helping other burn survivors,” says Vega.

As a volunteer at Shriners Hospitals for Children Northern California, she often helps with special events and provides peer support to other burn survivors and their families to help them understand that recovery takes times and is not easy.  “I share my own history with them and try to be an inspiration for them,” says Vega.

Dulce Vega

Condition:Burn Survivor
Volunteer:Shriners Hospitals for Children