AbilityFirst Fest of the West Benefiting Children and Adults with Disabilities Raises $37,000!

AbilityFirst along with Presenting Sponsor Wells Fargo held a fun-filled Country-Western Themed Family Event – Fest of the West on Saturday, June 1, 2013 at the University of Claremont Consortium. Approximately 220 people attended and the event raised $37,000 ! Benefits went to children and adults with disabilities at two of the 24 locations for AbilityFirst – The AbilityFirst Claremont Center and Camp Paivika, an accessible camp in the San Bernardino Mountains.

The event featured terrific live music by The Silverados, a great silent auction with items ranging from weekend getaway trips to a mountain bike and more! A great time was had by all with delicious barbeque foods, carnival games, a real life cowboy, a petting zoo and the famous Wells Fargo Stagecoach which gave people the opportunity to climb in for a picture opportunity.

“On behalf of Wells Fargo, we are proud to have been part of this event and in giving back to our community through our sponsorship to help children and adults with special needs,” said Rick Arcaro, VP of Sr. Relationship Manager for Wells Fargo.

Claremont Mayor, Opanyi Nasiali presented AbilityFirst with a certificate in celebration of the Fest of the West event and for many years of dedicated service to the Claremont community and making a difference in the lives of those with disabilities. “It was great to see the community come out and support AbilityFirst. We had many of our participants from other programs throughout Southern California at the Fest of the West event and they had a terrific time. Thank you to everyone who supported the event, our presenting sponsor Wells Fargo,” said Lori Gangemi, President and CEO of AbilityFirst.

About Ability First

AbilityFirst, formerly Crippled Children’s Society of Southern California, provides programs and services to help children and adults with disabilities reach their full potential. Through 24 locations across Southern California, they offer a broad range of employment, recreational and socialization programs as well as accessible residential housing complexes and an accessible camp, Camp Paivika, for both children and adults.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.4 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, and the Internet (wellsfargo.com), and has offices in more than 35 countries to support the bank’s customers who conduct business in the global economy. With more than 270,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 25 on Fortune’s 2013 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy all our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially.