52 cities partake in Oscar Night America

Jan 07, 2009 by Ian Evans

Oscar Night America, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ program to help local charities by enabling them to host glamorous Oscar® viewing parties and raise money for their organizations, kicks off its 16th year in 2009.

“Even in the best of times, the need for financial support keeps growing. So this year we’re especially gratified to have so many cities and charities participating in Oscar Night America,” said Academy Executive Director Bruce Davis.

In addition to first-time participant Grand Rapids, Michigan, ONA 2009 locations are Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, Greenville, Hartford, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Lewisburg, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk, Omaha, Orlando, Palm Beach, Palm Springs, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Springfield (MO), Tampa, Tucson and Washington, D.C.

To set these parties apart from the thousands of other events taking place on Oscar Night, each ONA party receives from the Academy copies of the official commemorative poster and the official Oscar show program.

Only one charity party in a given market may participate in ONA. Events are entirely produced by local nonprofit organizations, with the active participation of the local ABC-TV affiliate station.

With close to 16,000 guests attending nationwide last year, ONA 2008 benefited such charities as the American Diabetes Association, the American Red Cross, Ronald McDonald House, Special Olympics, the United Way and the Ellie Fund for Breast Cancer Research.

Since its inception in 1994, the program has generated nearly $24 million in funding for a wide spectrum of charitable organizations — every cent staying within the community where it was raised.