Bruno Serato, owner of Anaheim White House Restaurant honored by Boys and Girls Clubs of Anaheim

Bruno Serato, owner of the world famous Anaheim White House restaurant has been selected as honoree of the year by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Anaheim for his service and dedication to needy children in his California city.

Congratulations Bruno on an honor richly deserved!

UPDATE FOLLOW LINK TO VOTE FOR BRUNO AS CNN HERO http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/archive11/bruno.serato.html

I had the privilege of being Bruno's guest in 2006 at the annual lighting of the Christmas Tree at the Anaheim White House restaurant, and saw first hand the tremendous work he does for "motel kids." Since April 18, 2005 he has provided pasta meals to the Boys and Girls Club members every
Monday-Friday for a grand total of 213,500 meals served. On average, more than 100 kids are fed daily.

Michael Baker, executive director of the Anaheim Boys and Girls Clubs of Anaheim advising him of his selection. Here it is showing clearly the incredible work Bruno does for the less fortunate:

"I am very pleased to inform you that the Boys and Girls Clubs of Anaheim's
Gala Committee has selected you as our honoree this year. The Gala will take
place on Saturday March 20, 2010 6:30 pm at Disney's Grand Californian
Hotel. Your years of service and dedication to the kids we serve every
single day is above all others. When I look back on our relationship over
the past 9 years I am amazed at what you have done for our organization.
When considering other individuals for this honor nobody else even came
close to what you have done for this organization. Here are some key
milestones that you have accomplished for us:

"Since 2003- You created Caterina's Girls Club, in honor of your mother, to
help raise money for the kids that we serve. Since that date your group has
raised $234,472 for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Anaheim.

"From 2001-2007 You have underwritten the Annual Kids Luncheon fundraiser at
your Restaurant which has raised $184,245 for the Boys and Girls Clubs of
Anaheim.

"Since April 18, 2005 you have provided pasta meals to our members every
Monday-Friday for a grand total of 213,500 meals served.

"Knowing these statistics how could we not honor you?

"On behalf of the 2,500 members of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Anaheim I
thank you for your continued support. It is because of individuals like you
that the Boys and Girls clubs of Anaheim is The Positive Place for Kids."

CINDY writes to Bruno Serato 'on high and mighty in castle in the sky'

A note from Michael: As Cindy notes, she is a former student of mine from my days at Chapleau High School more than 20 years ago. Thank you Cindy for your kind words about me. I have invited my students to contribute to the blog, and when I received a copy of her letter to Bruno Serato, I immediately asked her if we could post it here. Thanks Cindy!

By Cindy Mahon-Pilon
Dear Bruno:
Let me begin by introducing myself. My name is Cindy Mahon-Pilon and I am an old friend of Michael J. Morris. MJ was my all time most favorite teacher. He taught me more of life and people than any before or after him have managed to do, as a matter of fact he is still teaching me daily as I read his blog faithfully.

I read the article which he wrote about you with great interest (the first article). I went to the web link which brought me to your wonderful web page. http://anaheimwhitehouse.com/

It is quite wonderful to learn of an individual who is as kind and generous as yourself. I presently have 5 teenagers aged 14 - 19 living with me, so I gathered them all around the computer and we surfed through your website together. We were all touched by your acts of kindness. The 6 of us spent some time after that sitting around the kitchen table discussing how your contributions make a difference within society and how important it is to give back to society when the opportunity presents itself. You Sir are an amazing man for all that you do for the children and others.

I was appalled when I read MJ's blog article regarding the negative feedback that you have received regarding the naming of a room at your restaurant The Barack Obama Room. I have to stop and wonder if even one of those people writing the negative feedback even have a clue what you do for the underprivileged. It seems as if people just always want to complain and judge others while they sit high and mighty in their castle in the sky.

I know that I am way up in Northern Ontario, Canada, but I just wanted to let you know that I applaud you for your actions. You are an amazing human being and way too many people out there are extremely narrow minded and negative thinkers. Do not let them get you down.
Well that is about all for now.
Best regards;
Cindy Mahon-Pilon

Please feel free to comment!

Bruno Serato gets backlash over Barack Obama room at Anaheim White House restaurant

Bruno Serato, the owner of the award winning Anaheim White House restaurant in southern California has received a shocking response to his decision to name one of the rooms after Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States.

Bruno, who provides free meals daily to at least 100 underprivileged children and raises millions for charitable causes, has been receiving emails attacking him for creating the Barack Obama room. Bruno has named rooms after several U.S. presidents, Republican and Democrat, and former presidents Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon have eaten there.

Full disclosure: Bruno has been my very good friend for many years and I have visited him in California, and am well aware of his work with underprivileged children. In fact, I recall at one point in the afternoon, the truck was loaded and off Bruno and my friend American model Leighton Stultz went to deliver the meals.

One email attacking Bruno's decision said in part: "I am not an Obama supporter. I could never be, and as much as having an African American in the White House could be a good thing, having one with Marxist ideals is certainly not a good thing..."

And another: "You must be kidding. he didn't do anything yet other than weaken our internal security..."

One more: "Do not insult us with a Barack Obama room. You have no idea whether he will be a great leader or a hopeless socialist..."

Bruno, who is an immigrant to the United States from Italy, is the epitome of fulfilling the American Dream. In reponse to the attacks, he says, "I'm not a politician. I'm a restaurateur. But because I do a lot of things with a presidential theme, I put name on the room because of its history. If an African American can come from a history of slavery and go forward to be president, that shows we are moving forward."

For more information on Bruno's restaurant go to http://www.anaheimwhitehouse.com/

Here is link to Orange County Register story on this matter: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/room-obama-house-2294553-restaurant-one

Since receiving a message from Bruno last night about the attacks, the good news is that I am receiving emails from Bruno supporters and I will post some in comments. You are invited to comment too or send me an email at mj.morris@live.ca

Obama Room "Inaugurated" at Anaheim White House Restaurant

Within days of becoming president of the United States, Barack Obama has already had a room "inaugurated" in his name at Bruno Serato's famous award winning Anaheim White House Restaurant in California.

UPDATED, NOVEMBER 7, 2012 after US election results show President Barack Obama re-elected. Bruno eestablished the room after Mr. Obama was first elected in 2008.

My good friend Bruno has named an American hero and has been recognized globally for his work in feeding "motel kids" in his community.

Just visiting the Anaheim White House restaurant is an experience in itself, add your meal and it all becomes one of life's great moments. Trust me folks. I spent several days as Bruno's guest while assisting him on his best selling cookbook "Temptation at the White House." No I did not help Bruno with the recipes, I just assisted with the editing!

Bruno of course knows I am from Canada and invited me to visit for the lighting of the Christmas tree experience. There I was, a kid from northern Ontario,  in southern California for the lighting of a huge Christmas tree

Bruno is actually very bipartisan when it comes to American politics and former presidents George W Bush and Jimmy Carter have eaten at his popular restaurant.

For an insight into the Anaheim White House restaurant at http://www.anaheimwhitehouse.com/ If you are in southern California be sure to visit and tell Bruno I sent you. You will be treated like a president.