‘Parenthood’ Premiere Spotlights Altadena Nonprofit Five Acres

On the evening of its fifth season premiere Thursday, stars of the NBC drama “Parenthood” showed support for Five Acres, the child and family services agency based in Altadena.

Actors in the “Parenthood” cast, including Sam Jaeger, Monica Potter, Max Burkholder and Xolo Mariduena, made appearances at the season premiere party in San Marino to raise awareness of Five Acres and its mission.

Jaeger, the South Pasadena actor who plays adoptive, stay-at-home dad Joel Graham on the show, sponsors Five Acres and decided a promotional event to coincide with the show’s season premiere would be a great way to boost the nonprofit’s visibility in the community.

“From the start, I knew there was something unique about the organization, something different,” said Jaeger, who said he was immediately impressed with Five Acres after touring the campus with his wife. “Very few nonprofits have the focus that Five Acres has. I feel like they’ve really nailed. Compassion only gets you so far. It’s what you do with your resources is what determines a nonprofit’s longevity.”

With 125 years of service, Five Acres serves 6,500 children and families a year, aiming to secure safe permanent family homes for children throughout Southern California.

Services include adoptions, residential and foster care, therapeutic education, mental health services and domestic violence prevention.

Jaeger said “Parenthood” is a perfect representation of what Five Acres is about.

“We wanted to host not really a fundraiser but an awareness-raiser, and we have this show that fits right in to what Five Acres is all about –

parenthood, family and children. In a storyline I’m involved in, we adopted an at-risk youth.”

Five Acres CEO Chanel Boutakidis praised the collaboration between Five Acres and the cast of “Parenthood.”

“One of the biggest challenges we have is really letting the community know what’s going on with children here in L.A. County,” said Boutakidis. “We need the community to understand that the type of services we provide are critical for families and our community.”