MEET THE HONOREES
Leader of the Year
Dr. Debra Stout
About Dr. Debra Stout
Many years ago, Debra Stout left a lucrative, 15-year management career in the Southern California teen retail clothing industry to earn her Doctorate degree in Psychology. She has since established herself as an advocate for those in need in Orange County. Dr. Stout specializes in all aspects of community development work with an emphasis in the areas of positive youth development and resiliency as well as homelessness issues and collaboration. She strongly advocates approaches that involve youth and college students in all levels and steps of the prevention and intervention process in our communities. In many ways, Dr. Stout mentors in her college aged young adults exactly what she has done for herself.
Debra spent over 6 years working for the Orange County Department of Education’s alcohol, tobacco and other drug use and violence prevention programs. In that capacity, Debbie coordinated a nationally acclaimed gang prevention and intervention program in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club of Westminster. Debbie is currently the Executive Director of the Fullerton Collaborative. She is also still involved in DoctorS Nonprofit Consulting, a company she co-founded with her husband Dallas Stout, Psy.D. in 2004. As a consultant to the Orange County Department of Education, she assisted in the development of the O.C. Safe from the Start Coalition facilitator manual as well as their “train the trainer” programs. Debbie has been a member of the faculty at California State University Fullerton since 2006 where she teaches courses in both the graduate program in Counseling and the undergraduate department of Child and Adolescent Studies. In late 2018, the University of the Rockies where she taught since 2011 merged with Ashford University. In late 2020, Ashford University was purchased by the University of Arizona. She is now an Associate Online Faculty Member of the University of Arizona’s Global Campus where she teaches a variety of graduate courses in Psychology. She has assisted in the completion of 1 Doctoral Dissertation with more currently in progress.
Debra has professionally demonstrated her experience & research interests at local, statewide, and international conferences including the International Conference on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma, as well as the Los Angeles County Psychological Association. As a Master Trainer, she has facilitated workshops throughout the county as well. Debra has been interviewed about her work on local T.V. and radio shows as well as podcasts. In 2020, the Girl Scouts of Orange County honored Dr. Stout with their annual Spotlight award for her ongoing work in the cities of Fullerton and La Habra. Dr. Stout and her husband were honored for National and World Kindness Day with an inaugural, 2019 Kindness Award for The City of Fullerton in honor of over 2 decades of volunteer work, donations to local non-profit causes and their pro bono professional services in their community. She was also honored in 2019 by the Leon Owens Foundation with their Community Impact award. Dr. Stout was honored by the California State Assembly as a 2018 Woman of Distinction for her work in the community. She and her husband were humbled to be named “2015 Honorees” for the 30th anniversary OC celebration of National Philanthropy Day. In 2011, Debbie was very honored to receive State Senator Lou Correa’s “Women Making a Difference” award. In 2007, Debbie was honored to receive the first annual Linda Kearns Prevention in the Community Award from the Orange County Substance Abuse Prevention network.
Debra earned her B.S. Degree from California State University Fullerton in Human Services, Cum Laude. She earned her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Azusa Pacific University where she graduated with special recognition for her work with children and their families. Debra’s areas of interest include community collaboration around the areas of education & academic achievement, health & wellness, homelessness, and issues pertaining to at risk youth and emerging adults. She has served on a variety of networks, coalitions, Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards at the County and Community level on these issues.
Many years ago, Debra Stout left a lucrative, 15-year management career in the Southern California teen retail clothing industry to earn her Doctorate degree in Psychology. She has since established herself as an advocate for those in need in Orange County. Dr. Stout specializes in all aspects of community development work with an emphasis in the areas of positive youth development and resiliency as well as homelessness issues and collaboration. She strongly advocates approaches that involve youth and college students in all levels and steps of the prevention and intervention process in our communities. In many ways, Dr. Stout mentors in her college aged young adults exactly what she has done for herself.
Debra spent over 6 years working for the Orange County Department of Education’s alcohol, tobacco and other drug use and violence prevention programs. In that capacity, Debbie coordinated a nationally acclaimed gang prevention and intervention program in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club of Westminster. Debbie is currently the Executive Director of the Fullerton Collaborative. She is also still involved in DoctorS Nonprofit Consulting, a company she co-founded with her husband Dallas Stout, Psy.D. in 2004. As a consultant to the Orange County Department of Education, she assisted in the development of the O.C. Safe from the Start Coalition facilitator manual as well as their “train the trainer” programs. Debbie has been a member of the faculty at California State University Fullerton since 2006 where she teaches courses in both the graduate program in Counseling and the undergraduate department of Child and Adolescent Studies. In late 2018, the University of the Rockies where she taught since 2011 merged with Ashford University. In late 2020, Ashford University was purchased by the University of Arizona. She is now an Associate Online Faculty Member of the University of Arizona’s Global Campus where she teaches a variety of graduate courses in Psychology. She has assisted in the completion of 1 Doctoral Dissertation with more currently in progress.
Debra has professionally demonstrated her experience & research interests at local, statewide, and international conferences including the International Conference on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma, as well as the Los Angeles County Psychological Association. As a Master Trainer, she has facilitated workshops throughout the county as well. Debra has been interviewed about her work on local T.V. and radio shows as well as podcasts. In 2020, the Girl Scouts of Orange County honored Dr. Stout with their annual Spotlight award for her ongoing work in the cities of Fullerton and La Habra. Dr. Stout and her husband were honored for National and World Kindness Day with an inaugural, 2019 Kindness Award for The City of Fullerton in honor of over 2 decades of volunteer work, donations to local non-profit causes and their pro bono professional services in their community. She was also honored in 2019 by the Leon Owens Foundation with their Community Impact award. Dr. Stout was honored by the California State Assembly as a 2018 Woman of Distinction for her work in the community. She and her husband were humbled to be named “2015 Honorees” for the 30th anniversary OC celebration of National Philanthropy Day. In 2011, Debbie was very honored to receive State Senator Lou Correa’s “Women Making a Difference” award. In 2007, Debbie was honored to receive the first annual Linda Kearns Prevention in the Community Award from the Orange County Substance Abuse Prevention network.
Debra earned her B.S. Degree from California State University Fullerton in Human Services, Cum Laude. She earned her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Azusa Pacific University where she graduated with special recognition for her work with children and their families. Debra’s areas of interest include community collaboration around the areas of education & academic achievement, health & wellness, homelessness, and issues pertaining to at risk youth and emerging adults. She has served on a variety of networks, coalitions, Boards of Directors and Advisory Boards at the County and Community level on these issues.
Humanitarian of the Year
Sir Bruno Serato
About Bruno Serato
Not many Americans can stake claim to being a CNN Hero or having been honored on the steps of the U.S. Capitol by members of Congress. Even fewer can show you their Ellis Island Medal of Honor or a set of rosary beads personally gifted by Pope Francis who also administered a papal blessing. And you can probably count on one hand the number of Americans who have been knighted not once, but twice….first by the Italian government and later by the House of Savoy.
But for the man who rightfully owns the aforementioned accolades, his real achievement comes in the form of two words he hears each and every day from the lips of Southern California’s poorest families expressing their gratitude for feeding them, finding them shelter and giving them hope for a productive future..."thank you."
Since 2005, Sir Bruno Serato has helped Southern California’s neediest families thanks to the nonprofit he founded and named after his mother. In addition to feeding some 5,000 hungry people each and every day, Caterina’s Club finds permanent homes for families in need and trains at-risk youth for careers in the food and hospitality industries.
You can trace Bruno’s extraordinary story back to 1980 when he first stepped foot on American soil from his native Italy. He was 19, spoke no English and had only $200 in his pocket. Through hard work and determination, Bruno worked his way up from busboy to owner of the critically acclaimed Anaheim White House Italian Steakhouse, whose patrons include U.S. Presidents, royalty, sports stars, and celebrities. His dining establishment, situated right in the backyard of Disneyland, earned him countless honors, recognition among food critics and a steady stream of loyal diners.
He often cites one key ingredient in his “recipe” for success -- giving back to his community. He organized home improvement projects for homebound seniors, sponsored local athletic teams, donated dinners to countless charities, etc. But it was his involvement with the local Boys & Girls Club that sparked a movement that eventually earned him International recognition.
The year was 2005 and Bruno’s mom was visiting from her native Verona. He thought she might want to accompany him to visit the kids at the Boys and Girls Club of Anaheim. There, they happened upon a 7-year-old boy who was eating a bag of potato chips. When Caterina asked why he was snacking so close to supper time, she and Bruno were told that the chips were his dinner. Like most of the other Boys & Girls Club children, this boy was a “motel kid,” so named because his family couldn’t afford to live in an apartment so they were relegated to occupying a cheap motel room. Not only did the rooms not contain kitchens, but they were dingy, scary, crime-ridden establishments — breeding grounds for prostitution and drugs.
Horrified, mom and son headed straight back to the restaurant and made pasta dinner for all of the children not only that night, but every night thereafter. That one location has since expanded to dozens of others throughout the Southland and today, the nonprofit feeds 5,000+ kids daily. His influence has extended far beyond Southern California to include Chicago, New York, Texas, Mexico and Italy.
In 2012, Bruno expanded Caterina’s Club’s mission by finding permanent homes not only for the motel families, but those living in shelters and other unstable forms of housing. He discovered that many of these families can, indeed, afford to pay the monthly rent, but have trouble coming up with the first, last and security deposit that are often required by landlords. So far, his Welcome Home program has placed hundreds of families who now take pride in homes they can call their own.
Seeing another need in the community, Bruno broadened Caterina’s Club’s mission one step further when, in 2016, he established his Hospitality Academy, a comprehensive extended learning opportunity for at-risk students to learn all aspects of the restaurant and hospitality industries. Instead of hanging on the streets and being exposed to drugs and gangs, local teens are trained for careers in restaurant management, the culinary arts, nutrition, hotel administration, etc. Interns earn a monthly scholarship and job placement services are available to them upon graduation.
Despite going through several economic downturns leading him to twice mortgage his home to keep the program going and a fire that burned his beloved restaurant to the ground, Bruno has, nonetheless, endured. Like a Phoenix emerging from the ashes, nothing has and nothing ever will prevent him from performing his life's work. With his mother Caterina kindly smiling down from heaven, Bruno will continue to serve those most in need and his legacy, no doubt, will live on.
For his humanitarian work, Bruno has earned international publicity including profiles in People Magazine, LA Times, “CBS Evening News,” “NBC Nightly News,” “Daily Mail,” “The Doctors,” and Access Hollywood all of which he accepts to generate public awareness of the needs of our most vulnerable population – our children. For more information, visit www.caterinasclub.org.
Not many Americans can stake claim to being a CNN Hero or having been honored on the steps of the U.S. Capitol by members of Congress. Even fewer can show you their Ellis Island Medal of Honor or a set of rosary beads personally gifted by Pope Francis who also administered a papal blessing. And you can probably count on one hand the number of Americans who have been knighted not once, but twice….first by the Italian government and later by the House of Savoy.
But for the man who rightfully owns the aforementioned accolades, his real achievement comes in the form of two words he hears each and every day from the lips of Southern California’s poorest families expressing their gratitude for feeding them, finding them shelter and giving them hope for a productive future..."thank you."
Since 2005, Sir Bruno Serato has helped Southern California’s neediest families thanks to the nonprofit he founded and named after his mother. In addition to feeding some 5,000 hungry people each and every day, Caterina’s Club finds permanent homes for families in need and trains at-risk youth for careers in the food and hospitality industries.
You can trace Bruno’s extraordinary story back to 1980 when he first stepped foot on American soil from his native Italy. He was 19, spoke no English and had only $200 in his pocket. Through hard work and determination, Bruno worked his way up from busboy to owner of the critically acclaimed Anaheim White House Italian Steakhouse, whose patrons include U.S. Presidents, royalty, sports stars, and celebrities. His dining establishment, situated right in the backyard of Disneyland, earned him countless honors, recognition among food critics and a steady stream of loyal diners.
He often cites one key ingredient in his “recipe” for success -- giving back to his community. He organized home improvement projects for homebound seniors, sponsored local athletic teams, donated dinners to countless charities, etc. But it was his involvement with the local Boys & Girls Club that sparked a movement that eventually earned him International recognition.
The year was 2005 and Bruno’s mom was visiting from her native Verona. He thought she might want to accompany him to visit the kids at the Boys and Girls Club of Anaheim. There, they happened upon a 7-year-old boy who was eating a bag of potato chips. When Caterina asked why he was snacking so close to supper time, she and Bruno were told that the chips were his dinner. Like most of the other Boys & Girls Club children, this boy was a “motel kid,” so named because his family couldn’t afford to live in an apartment so they were relegated to occupying a cheap motel room. Not only did the rooms not contain kitchens, but they were dingy, scary, crime-ridden establishments — breeding grounds for prostitution and drugs.
Horrified, mom and son headed straight back to the restaurant and made pasta dinner for all of the children not only that night, but every night thereafter. That one location has since expanded to dozens of others throughout the Southland and today, the nonprofit feeds 5,000+ kids daily. His influence has extended far beyond Southern California to include Chicago, New York, Texas, Mexico and Italy.
In 2012, Bruno expanded Caterina’s Club’s mission by finding permanent homes not only for the motel families, but those living in shelters and other unstable forms of housing. He discovered that many of these families can, indeed, afford to pay the monthly rent, but have trouble coming up with the first, last and security deposit that are often required by landlords. So far, his Welcome Home program has placed hundreds of families who now take pride in homes they can call their own.
Seeing another need in the community, Bruno broadened Caterina’s Club’s mission one step further when, in 2016, he established his Hospitality Academy, a comprehensive extended learning opportunity for at-risk students to learn all aspects of the restaurant and hospitality industries. Instead of hanging on the streets and being exposed to drugs and gangs, local teens are trained for careers in restaurant management, the culinary arts, nutrition, hotel administration, etc. Interns earn a monthly scholarship and job placement services are available to them upon graduation.
Despite going through several economic downturns leading him to twice mortgage his home to keep the program going and a fire that burned his beloved restaurant to the ground, Bruno has, nonetheless, endured. Like a Phoenix emerging from the ashes, nothing has and nothing ever will prevent him from performing his life's work. With his mother Caterina kindly smiling down from heaven, Bruno will continue to serve those most in need and his legacy, no doubt, will live on.
For his humanitarian work, Bruno has earned international publicity including profiles in People Magazine, LA Times, “CBS Evening News,” “NBC Nightly News,” “Daily Mail,” “The Doctors,” and Access Hollywood all of which he accepts to generate public awareness of the needs of our most vulnerable population – our children. For more information, visit www.caterinasclub.org.
215 E Commonwealth Ave, Suite D, Fullerton, CA 92832 | (714) 871-4488
A non-for-profit organization | Tax-ID: 95-1687482 | www.jwcanoc.org
A non-for-profit organization | Tax-ID: 95-1687482 | www.jwcanoc.org