Ben Vereen

Entertainer Ben Vereen supports a host of charitable causes, but when he was asked also to perform at Saturday night's record-breaking fund-raiser for Orange County's home for abandoned and abused children, he said he could not refuse. "Today's cry (from children) is much louder than anything we have heard before," Vereen said in an interview before the event. "If we don't do something to encourage them, to motivate them, to build self-esteem, then we're a lost nation."

Thousands of people are expected to attend today's Strawberry Festival Parade that begins at 10:30 a.m. with actor and dancer Ben Vereen as grand marshal. Other Saturday festival events include a celebrity breakfast at 8 a.m., a battle of the bands at noon, a celebrity autograph session at 12:30 p.m. and a talent show at 7:30 p.m. The festival also includes carnival rides, arts-and-crafts booths, food and game booths, and civic displays.

The teen-age daughter of entertainer Ben Vereen was killed in an accident involving a tractor-trailer that flipped over and crushed the van in which she was riding, the New Jersey State Police said Thursday. Naja Vereen, 16, of Saddle River, N. J., was pronounced dead at the scene Wednesday by an Essex County medical examiner, police said. Her mother, Nancy Vereen, 43, was driving the Toyota minivan but was not injured.

The 16-year-old daughter of entertainer Ben Vereen was killed when a mini-van driven by her mother was crushed by a tractor-trailer that toppled on a highway ramp, police said. Rescue workers took 3 1/2 hours Wednesday to remove the body of Naja Vereen of Saddle River from the flattened remains of the van, according to state police.

"Whenever I'm in the public eye, I'm working," Ben Vereen said cheerfully, settling into a plush chair at his West Hollywood hotel. "That's what I do. I entertain. And when people see me upbeat, they can identify with something positive--so I make them feel good. "They, in turn, make my life easier: by recognizing me, by turning on their television sets, by coming out to the shows. I'm thankful for that exchange. But it's a 24-hour job."