Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Gala to Honor Chuck Lorre, Jon Cryer and Lisa Joyner to Host

Oct. 5 is shaping up to be a big night for Chuck Lorre .

The super producer and philanthropist has been selected to receive one of the night's top honors at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles gala taking place that night at L.A. Live's event deck in downtown Los Angeles. Lorre will be presented with a Courage to Care Award during a program that will also see identical honors handed out to Sugar Ray and Bernadette Leonard and sports and live entertainment leader AEG.

Per CHLA, Courage to Care Awards are presented to those individuals or organizations that "demonstrate an extraordinary commitment to children, pediatric-related causes and humanitarian efforts at CHLA and beyond." Lorre, the Leonards and AEG will join a roster of recipients that includes Drew Barrymore, Jamie Lee Curtis, Pau Gasol, Heidi Klum, Natalie Portman, the L.A. Kings, Panda Express, the Walt Disney Co., and others.

There's more news about that night: CHLA's Oct. 5 gala will also feature a performance by Demi Lovato, appearances by presenters Kaley Cuoco, Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Hanks and media personality Ellen K, and the festivities will be presided over by the night's co-hosts, married couple Jon Cryer and Lisa Joyner. CHLA's nurses will also be celebrated as Mission Ambassadors during what will likely be a meaningful moment. Longtime CHLA supporters Jimmy Kimmel and Molly McNearny, Kristin and Jeffrey Worthe will serve as the gala's honorary co-chairs.

"We are ecstatic to have Demi Lovato performing at the event and Jon Cryer and Lisa Joyner hosting this year's gala as we celebrate the hospital's achievements made possible by our committed and generous community of supporters, advocates and philanthropists. The Gala is also an opportunity to recognize the extraordinary caregivers who enable CHLA to provide the highest quality and most compassionate pediatric care in California," offered CHLA president and chief executive officer Paul S. Viviano.

Said Cryer: "As a father, I know how important it is to have access to kind, compassionate doctors, nurses and other specialists when your child is sick. I've been proud to support the hospital through participation in CHLA's annual triathlon. My wife and I are honored to host this special celebration that shines a light on CHLA and the extraordinary people who provide the best care for kids."

The reason why it will be a big night for Lorre is in the details. Cryer starred opposite Charlie Sheen on the long-running sitcom Two and a Half Men, which was co-created and executive produced by Lorre. Presenter Cuoco, who will offer a tribute to Lorre, starred on another one of his blockbuster sitcoms, The Big Bang Theory. The honor comes Lorre's way less than a year after news broke that through his Chuck Lorre Family Foundation he had pledged a total of $10 million to CHLA to support research education for high school and college students from under-resourced communities throughout greater Los Angeles.

The gift created sustained support for a continuum of science training and mentorship that begins when students are in high school and now extends into college, and could, ultimately, create a more diverse pool of scientists, doctors, nurses and health care professionals. To support it, CHLA launched the Chuck Lorre Research Scholars Program (CLRSP), which welcomed its inaugural class in summer 2023, including student alumni from the Samuels Family Latino and African American High School Internship Program (LA-HIP) at CHLA.

Lorre also supports a UCLA scholars program, the Venice Family Clinic, the Chuck Lorre School of Allied Health at Cedars-Sinai, the Young Sheldon STEM Initiative, Project Angel Food, Trust for Public Land, The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation scholarship delivered during The Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment annual gala.

The Leonards are longtime supporters of CHLA and its Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, and they've long been committed to raising awareness and funding for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. AEG, also a longtime champion of CHLA, has helped the hospital through contributions and partnerships with the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Los Angeles Kings, and has invested in programs and services like the Blood Donor Center, the Sports Medicine Program, pediatric neurosurgery research and the Children's Fund.