From the Taylor’s involvement with March of Dimes, Elaine knew they ran their fundraisers by committee, so for The Taylor Family Foundation’s (TTFF) inaugural Day in the Park fundraiser, Elaine followed suit and pulled together a group to help organize the undertaking. A friend from high school suggested the need to attract a celebrity “headliner” of sorts to emcee the afternoon. She was friends with Doug McConnell, who was then working on the Bay Area travel program, Mac and Mutley. She was sure he’d jump on board. After meeting Elaine and seeing her passion, Doug agreed to do whatever he could to help make the foundation a success. He’s attended all but one Day in the Park fundraiser, helping with emcee duties and has helped produce several videos for TTFF throughout the years.

Once Elaine got the idea for building Camp 5-Acres, she attended a meeting with the Real Estate Group, Real Estate Alliance for Charity (REACH). REACH was instrumental with the camp project through hosting three fundraisers for TTFF in the early years, and Elaine struck up a friendship with one of the people at that meeting- Julie Tittle, who shortly thereafter joined the TTFF board.

A PR maven, Tittle was hosting the San Francisco premiere of Toys, starring Robin Williams just before Christmas. Elaine went to a meeting with Tittle, who was having a hard time finding suitable Christmas decorations in the middle of December. Well, Barry, who loved Christmas more than any other holiday, used to decorate the house to such an extent that it rivaled a Macy’s store. So Elaine offered their decorations and proceeded to dismantle the house 10 days before Christmas. It worked itself out though when they got to meet Williams at the premiere party. Over the course of the next several years, Williams went on to host three dinners for Day in the Park Live Auction bidders at Michelin-star restaurants in San Francisco, helping the foundation to raise close to $120,000.