Having raised more than $1.5 million in the past 19 years, the annual Heartbeat Gala hosted by Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center Foundation is looking to increase that amount with their 20th annual black tie dinner dance event.

“Heartbeat Gala is a very successful, fun event and an immensely necessary fundraiser for the cardiac health of this community,” said Don Kendrick, chairman for the 2014 Heartbeat Gala. Kendrick is the mayor of La Verne and the second vice president of PVHMC Foundation Board of Directors.

The evening will begin with a reception and silent auction followed by dinner. With a theme of “Giving from the Heart,” the event will feature Roaring ‘20s entertainment. Five students from Cal Poly Pomona’s drama department will entertain guests dressed in 1920s attire. Entertainers dressed as Charlie Chaplin, Mae West and the ever popular duo of Laurel and Hardy will also be in attendance.

Guests will enter the ballroom for dinner to music performed by the Bonita High School Jazz Ensemble. The students will also entertain during dinner.

Following dinner, the entertainment will include a vocalist singing Billie Holiday tunes, short comments from the podium and a seven-minute video highlighting Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center’s Stroke program and the new Interventional Laboratory. The new laboratory will combine the specialties of radiology, neurosurgery and neurology for the benefit of stroke patients.

Dr. Sophia Janjua is the hospital’s first interventional neurologist. She has recently joined the hospital’s medical staff to begin implementing some of the newest techniques in the field of stroke care and early intervention.