Benefit Helps Keep Meals Program Rolling : Charity: An oversize crowd attends ‘A Tribute to the Golden Years,’ raising more than $125,000 for the hungry.

There’s more than one way for an organization to guarantee that a cross section of the town will show up for its big annual do.

Cajoling sometimes works. Naming a big-league chairman almost always helps. And putting the cause in just the right light never hurts.

Senior Adult Services, which sponsors the Meals on Wheels program and played host to its 14th annual “A Tribute to the Golden Years” benefit at the San Diego Hilton on Nov. 8, used a technique that has served well in the past. Besides naming a pair of hard-to-refuse general chairmen--banker Bob Adelizzi and his wife, Tommi, SAS drafted developer Patrick Kruer and his wife, Barbara, as chairmen of the Builders and Developers Committee and Dr. Gerard Burrow of the UCSD Medical School as chairman of the Physicians Committee. Their jobs were to deliver patrons from their particular folds, and the turnout, at 650, was sufficient to make the Hilton’s vast International Ballroom seem more banana republic in size.

Credit for the oversized crowd was shared by this year’s featured honorees, philanthropists John and Sally Thornton, since the room contained several hundred of their fellows from the intermingled worlds of high society, the arts and philanthropy. As a typical Thornton touch, they arranged for hosts and hostesses to distribute pink carnations during the cocktail hour as thank-yous for attendance.

The group discovered, to its general surprise, that it shared in common one trait that perhaps none ever had contemplated--it was described by an SAS spokeswoman as “the chronologically advantaged.” The reference reflected the generally elderly client list of the Meals on Wheels program, which in 1989 delivered daily meals to some 2,200 persons throughout the county (Tommi Adelizzi and Sally Thornton are among the 1,600 volunteers who work one or two days a month delivering the meals). The program is supported by fees from those clients who can afford all or part of the daily $5 charge, and by donations. A considerably larger group receives other services that help them maintain independent life styles, include practical assistance with such trying types of paper work as tax returns, renters-assistance applications and insurance claims.

According to SAS development director William Wiener, the organization does not receive any public funding. He said the “Tribute “ benefit would raise net proceeds in excess of $125,000 and added, “This sum is going to subsidize a great many meals.”

At this dinner, the crowd was served Greek salad, a sort of mixed grill of beef filet and chicken breast and a dessert of berries, all of it consumed in breaks between dancing to the Dick Braun Orchestra.

The Thorntons, back from Europe just three days earlier and preparing for the weekend wedding of their son, said they found the evening a welcome intermezzo in the midst of a demanding week.

“It’s such a wonderful cause, and we’re deeply proud to be honored,” Sally said. “I think Meals on Wheels is such an outstanding program because it provides loving care to those who need it.”

“I don’t think you could honor two more distinguished citizens of San Diego,” said chairman Bob Adelizzi, “not only for the amount they contribute but for the length of time they’ve been giving.”

The dinner proceeded with a series of addresses, including one in which SAS President John Musial congratulated the crowd for what he considered the deepest motivation behind their attendance.

“Our goal is to help seniors stay independent,” he said. “SAS is founded on the great American traditions of volunteerism and private charity to the needy. We stand for people helping people.”

The guest list included City Councilman Wes Pratt, Ruth and Jim Mulvaney, Rita and UCSD Chancellor Richard Atkinson; Amy and Brute Krulak; SAS executive director Barbara Bright and her husband, Harold; Annabelle and Al Gabbs; Jean and Al Anderson; Jeanne Brace; Betty and Ross Tharp; Alice Zukor; Marge O’Donnell; B.J. and Hal Williams; Marion Bourland; Christine and Russell Forester; 1989 Meals on Wheels honorees Junko and Larry Cushman; Judith Harris and Robert Singer; actress Mercedes McCambridge; Lee and P.J. Maturo; Harriet and Richard Levi; Anne Ratner; Marilyn and Kim Fletcher; Anne Evans; Pat and Hugh Carter; Leonor Craig; Audrey Geisel; Elinor Oatman; Leni Arnhym, and Joy and Jim Furby.

CORONADO--About 400 autograph hounds traded sacks of canned goods for admission to the book-signing party given Nov. 7 in the Hotel del Coronado’s red-and-white-striped Centennial Tent to celebrate the publication of “A Street Is Not a Home: Solving America’s Homeless Dilemma.”

Author and San Diego Municipal Judge Robert C. Coates wielded the pen at the Mexican fiesta-themed soiree, hosted by hotelier Larry Lawrence and his wife, Shelia. Coates, who several years ago spent a brief time living among the homeless on the city’s streets, said in a statement that he has received a grant of $100,000 through the San Diego Community Foundation to fund the distribution of the book to civic and community leaders throughout the country.

“Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of the homeless can be helped,” he said. “This is the first book that actually addresses the issue of how to solve the homeless dilemma through effective mental health programs and the fostering of low-income housing in our regional planning.”

Some of the guests managed to juggle an open book in one hand and a plate of antojitos (hors d’oeuvres) in the other, all the while swaying slightly to the nonstop mariachi music. Salsa stains on open pages were not uncommon, and perhaps could be taken as dual compliments directed to both the author and the kitchen staff.

The canned goods collected at the door were donated for distribution by five organizations, including Jewish Family Services, God’s Extended Hand and the Senior Center.

Coates’ wife, Mimi, and children Whitney and Cameron stood in line of those waiting for autographs.