Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete brought a dose of charity to Hollywood at their HollyRod Foundation’s DesignCare Gala this past Saturday. The couple held its eighteenth gala at Sugar Ray’s home in Pacific Palisades.
Holly was sure to thank Sugar Ray and his wife, Bernadette, for their generosity. “You know you have good friends when they let 600 of your friends roll up into their crib,” the actress said. Many other stars came out to support the HollyRod foundation. Laila Ali, daughter of the late boxer Muhammad Ali, attended and had words at the event. The celebrity mom referred to her father as the “greatest of all time,” and shed light on his contribution to Holly and Rod’s charitable cause.
The HollyRod foundation has worked tirelessly to spread awareness about autism and Parkinson’s disease. The Peetes established the nonprofit after their oldest son, Rodney Jr., was diagnosed with autism several years ago. Since then, RJ has beat the odds by obtaining a job and launching his modeling career. The 18-year-old serves as an inspiration to others living with autism. Rodney even wrote an open letter to a teenager who was mistakenly labeled as “high” by rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson a few months back.
“I just wanted to tell you to stay positive,” RJ told the teen. “Make sure you remember that we may be different, but we are still the same — and even if we are not as cool as a famous rapper, we are still dope in our own way. Like Kendrick Lamar says, ‘We gon’ be alright!'”
See more pictures from Saturday’s HollyRod DesignCare Gala below! Holly and Rodney Peete have four kids together.
