Garen and Shari Staglin to Receive
Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center

"Erasing the Stigma Leadership Award"

April 13, 2009, Napa Valley, CA -- On May 8th, 2009, Garen and Shari Staglin, proprietors of Staglin Family Vineyard in Rutherford, Napa Valley, California, and founders of the Staglin Family Music Festival for Mental Health will receive the "Erasing the Stigma Leadership Award" from the Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center in a ceremony at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

Elyn Saks, author, "The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness," will also be honored along with the film, "The Soloist," and its producer, Gary Foster. The film which opens April 24 is based on the life of Nathaniel Ayers as chronicled by Steve Lopez.

Comedian and author Brian Copeland will act as Master of Ceremonies, and award winning actor, Joe Pantoliano, president and founder of the "No Kidding, Me Too!" organization, will present the awards.

Although public outlook has become more open about mental illness, there is still a long way to go to erase stigma. To shine light on the issue, Didi Hirsch hosted its first Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards in 1997, honoring Tipper Gore for her candid discussion of mental illness and its costs to the community. Since then, the organization has honored researchers and physicians, actors and writers, leaders and activists, for their significant contributions to the field of mental health and for helping to erase the stigma of mental illness. In addition to Tipper Gore, past recipients include Rosalynn Carter, Jennifer Holliday, Carrie Fisher, Terry Bradshaw, Patty Duke, Dear Abby, Larry King, Rod Steiger and more.

For all event inquiries, call (310) 659-5517 or email ErasingtheStigma@eventsbyone.com.

About the Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center
With more than 60 years experience, Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center has been providing exceptional mental health and substance abuse treatment services throughout Los Angeles County. They serve nearly 44,000 children, families, adults and older adults at nine sites each year, from Pacoima to Venice to South Los Angeles to the Downtown area, and many points in between.

They offer a wide range of services, including crisis intervention and stabilization, counseling, residential treatment, case management, youth-at-risk and family reinforcement programs, delinqency prevention programs, substance abuse treatment and prevention, and extensive community outreach. They also operate the only free, accredited, 24-hour, seven-days-a-week, suicide prevention crisis line from Orange County to Santa Barbara.

To inquire about their services, please call (310) 390-8896 between Monday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

About the Staglin Family Music Festival for Mental Health
Started in 1995, the Staglin Family Vineyard Music Festival is an annual event, featuring internationally renowned scientists, world-class food and wines, and incredible musical entertainment, all to raise money for, and awareness of, mental health issues facing our community. Past performers include Brian WIlson, Gladys Knight, Roberta Flack and the Pointer Sisters. The 2009 event, featuring rock & roll legend Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, is scheduled for September 12th, at the Staglin Family Vineyard, located in Rutherford, Napa Valley, California. Since its debut, the Staglin Family Vineyard Music Festival's fourteen-year total, including grants from the NIMH, has surpassed $80 million. The Festival is the highest grossing fund-raising event related to wine without an auction. Last year alone, approximately $3 million was raised to support the research and treatment of physiological brain disorder. For more information, or to purchase tickets, please visit www.music-festival.org.