Winning Pitch to Aid Non-Profit

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When Gene Urcan, a managing director of Santa Monica investment firm Cappello Group, was boarding a plane for a business trip to Las Vegas in November, he was surprised to find he was seated next his childhood hero, former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Joe Torre.

Star struck and amused, Urcan started a conversation with the sports figure he so long admired. Turned out, the two have a lot in common. Both Urcan and Torre are overachievers, share Italian ancestry and have a passion for sports. The businessman surprised Torre by telling him about an ultramarathon he ran last year to raise money for the Los Angeles Police Department.

“You would expect a person like Joe to know everything about sports, but he was fascinated by the idea,” said Urcan.

During the conversation, Torre told Urcan about his Safe at Home Foundation, which aims to keep kids safe if they’re in abusive homes.

“After hearing what Joe and his foundation are doing to keep kids safe, I knew I had to do something extraordinary to help,” Urcan said.

So on April 26, Urcan, 40, will run a 50-mile ultramarathon along the Pacific Crest Trail. It will take him about 11 hours. His goal is to raise $30,000.

His daily routine now includes a 3 a.m. run of six to eight miles, a two- or three-miler at noon plus a 1,000-meter swim or two- to four-mile run at 8 p.m. 

But why would a family man with a 70-hour workweek do all that?

“I want to see what I am made of and what is it at my core. … Instead of writing a check, I’d rather earn it,” Urcan said.

Double Duty in Retirement

Retirement may be a life of leisure for some, but that hasn’t been the case for Mark Liberman.

The former chief executive of the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board retired more than a year ago, but he’s been keeping himself busy serving on the board of two non-profits – Midnight Mission in downtown L.A.’s Skid Row and the Southern California Alzheimer’s Association near Koreatown.

“You do this for two reasons,” said Liberman, 67. “One, to help others and, two, it’s a rewarding experience.”

He said his duties at both organizations are to provide direction and volunteer work, especially around the holidays.

Liberman said he doesn’t see his new work as a job, but a chance to give back. Besides, when he had a full-time job, he simply didn’t have the time to give the non-profits what they needed.

“When you’re working, you can’t get involved,” he said. “You really have to spend some quality time with these organizations. By being retired, it allows me to do that.”

Staff reporters Anna Nikonova and Subrina Hudson contributed to this column. Page 3 is compiled by Charles Crumpley. He can be reached at [email protected].

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