Tell us about your nominee. Why should he or she be recognized as a Jewish Community Hero?
Peter is a not your typical Hollywood media executive. He is often described as a "serial philanthropist". Over the past three decades, Peter has founded four nonprofit organizations serving seriously ill children, abused and neglected children and the homeless population. The Starlight Children's Foundation, Starbright World, First Star and EDAR (Everyone Deserves A Roof) are all the results of this Jewish Community Hero.
What problem did your nominee identify in the community that needed to be solved? How has your nominee's efforts made a difference for others?
In 1982, Peter granted a wish for one boy who was dying of a brain tumor. He realized that there were so many ill children who needed help and as a result, he founded The Starlight Children's Foundation. Starlight Children's Foundation now serves 2.4 million children across five countries. In 1995, Peter approached Steven Spielberg with the idea of creating video media and an online social network for seriously ill children. This resulted in Starbright World, which continues to achieve both of these goals 24/7.
In 1999, Peter learned the staggering amount of abused and neglected children across the United States. Peter founded Washington, DC based First Star to operate nationally as the advocacy resource that abused and neglected children, primarily those 800,000 in our nation's foster care system, never previously had working on their behalf. Finally, in 2007, Peter founded EDAR (Everyone Deserves A Roof) after noticing an increase in homeless individuals on his weekly bike ride. Peter took a proactive approach and interviewed homeless individuals asking what they needed to survive on the streets of Los Angeles. Based off their comments, he conceptualized the EDAR unit and founded his fourth nonprofit organization. Peter's EDAR unit now provides overflow beds and privacy in shelters and, for those on the streets that are not in shelters, a waterproof and safer place to sleep at night. Currently, EDAR is serving close to 200 individuals in Southern CA. EDAR is currently working on expanding throughout CA and nationwide.
