Culver City Observer -

Airport Marina Counseling Service's (AMCS) 17th annual "Spring into Well-Being” Celebration will be held on Thursday, May 6, 2021, at 5 p.m. via Zoom. The event will celebrate the success of our 2021 Champion of Mental Health Cedars-Sinai Marina del Rey Hospital. Cedars-Sinai has been instrumental in helping AMCS become an indispensable part of the county’s mental health care safety net.

“The hospital helped AMCS with grants to create a three-year strategic plan and funded a partnership with Mar Vista and Open Paths Family Counseling called the ‘Building Healthy Families Collaborative,’" said AMCS CEO Eden Garcia-Balis. “They have also given us a grant for an electronic health records system, which will be huge for us as we work to digitize our records and make them more user-friendly. We are excited to honor Cedars for their incredible contributions to the clinic.”

The event is expected to attract hundreds of key local community and business leaders via Zoom. The goal, Garcia-Balis said, is more than $300,000 to help continue providing much-needed community-based, accessible mental health services and to support the quality training of the clinic’s more than 60 mental health therapists each year.

Among the activities at the Spring Celebration will be a silent auction, featuring everything from lunch with a Lakers insider and a Napa Valley getaway to spectacular gift baskets and even a year’s worth of flowers! To bid today, please visit: https://one.bidpal.net/amcs2021/browse/all

In addition, AMCS will hold its popular wine lot drawing. AMCS is selling just 50 tickets for $100 each for a chance to win 24 bottles of great wines, plus a very special double magnum! The value is more than $1,700! The winning ticket will be drawn at the event, and the winner need not be present to win.

This wine lot includes some truly special bottles, including Ramey Chardonnay Woosley Road Vineyard (2016); Chateau Lynch-Bages Pauillac (Grand Cru Classe) (2003); Chateu Baron de Pichon-longueville Pauillac (Grand Cru Classe) (2003); Estancia Reserve Mertiage Double Magnum (2014) and many more!

Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased by emailing Bill Morgan at bmorgan@amcshelps.com or calling (310) 670-1410.

Retired NBC4 Weathercaster Fritz Coleman will serve as the emcee, and the event will include a variety of auction items and a celebration of AMCS’s success in providing critically needed mental health services even in the midst of a pandemic.

For more information about the event or to get your tickets, please visit http://www.AMCShelps.com.

About AMCS

The mission of Airport Marina Counseling Service (AMCS) is to offer community-based, accessible mental health services; and provide quality training to therapists.

AMCS is a nonprofit, community-based mental health clinic that has been serving the greater LAX region since 1961. From its opening in 1961 to now, AMCS has continued to grow and expand it programs and services. Today, we serve hundreds of individuals, children and families and couples weekly, and our services are provided on a sliding-scale basis.

As affordable mental health resources become more difficult to find, more people living further away from AMCS depend upon its services. Though we have no geographical boundaries, the Clinic currently serves the greater LAX area including Westchester, El Segundo, Culver City, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Marina del Rey, Playa del Rey and Venice, Santa Monica, Torrance, South Los Angeles and extended areas of Los Angeles County. AMCS offers comprehensive therapeutic services to individuals, children and families, couples and older adults, many of whom would otherwise have little access to counseling. Open seven days a week, Airport Marina Counseling Service provides an array of successful programs, both at the Clinic and off-site, to meet the needs of people of all ages.