April 15th starts National Child Abuse Awareness Month. On April 2nd Mary Hart, Hostess of Entertainment Tonight television show for almost 30 years interviewed Barbara Sinatra in the Annenberg Theater at the Eisenhower Campus. A complimentary shuttle was provided for luncheon guests to tour the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center as part of the Annual Junior League Sustainer’s Community Luncheon and Kick Off of National Child Abuse Month.
Mary Hart interviewed Barbara Sinatra just like two close friends talking at the Helene Galen Auditorium in the Annenberg Center for Health Sciences. This kick-off event raised funds to underwrite counseling for sexually, physical and emotionally abused children.
Mary Hart asked Barbara Sinatra how she got involved with abused children and why she and Frank started the Children’s Center. Sinatra said she had a friend ask her for help with a charity for children. Barbara saw the children and the helped they got thru therapy and was hooked. Most people that tour the Center come away with a respect for the work they do and want to help.
Barbara Sinatra went door to door per se to raise the money to build the Center. She named many people that donated time and money including Walter Annenberg. Frank Sinatra supported Barbara and got his many friends to help. The center was built 26 years ago and has helped thousands of abused children free of charge regardless of their inability to pay.
Mary Hart said when she interviewed Frank Sinatra she felt intimidated. She asked Barbara if she felt that way when she first met him. Barbara said that she wasn’t as soon as she knew him and fell in love after their first kiss. Barbara said that Frank Sinatra was the most romantic man she had ever met and the most generous. It was a very enlightening interview that let you know Barbara and Frank Sinatra in a more personal way.
