Gala Nets $465,000 for Foundation

Hugh O’Brian Youth Foundation’s annual Albert Schweitzer Leadership Award gala, held Nov. 14 at the Beverly Hilton, netted $465,000. The foundation, in its 33rd year, provides leadership seminars for outstanding high school sophomores in the United States, the Bahamas, Canada and Mexico. Dinner chairs were Peter W. Mullin, president and CEO of Management Compensation Group; Robert H. Smith, president and CEO of Security Pacific Corp., and James Stewart.

* Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center of USC received notice Oct. 5 of a $450,000 grant from the American Assn. of Retired Persons’ Andrus Foundation. The money will continue support for USC’s Andrus Foundation/USC Student Internship Experience in Policy and Aging Program.

* Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Modern and Contemporary Art Council’s benefit Nov. 15 offered an outdoor buffet supper at the museum’s Times Mirror Central Court and the West Coast premiere screening of “Vincent & Theo” in the Bing Theater. The $30,000 netted will go toward the council’s ongoing programs, which include acquisitions, education, the Art Here and Now Program and special exhibitions.

* French Foundation for Alzheimer Research sponsored “A Day at the Races” at Hollywood Park Nov. 18, raising more than $20,000 for ongoing research. Added to that amount was a $50,000 donation by John Herklotz of Pacific Palisades, which will be increased to $100,000 by Christmas Eve if the Alzheimer’s support group is able to match the donation.

* Boys & Girls Club of Venice received more than $60,000 raised at the “Hollywood in the ‘30s” annual fund-raiser held at the Sheraton Plaza LaReina Hotel Sept. 18. Dena Stitt and Jerome (Jerry) H. Snyder were the honorees. Proceeds will support ongoing programs at the club.

* Youth News Service, publisher of the award-winning monthly tabloid L.A. Youth, netted more than $3,000 at its first fund-raiser Nov. 17. The event, a screening of Taylor Hackford’s “The Long Walk Home,” was held at AMC Santa Monica 7 theatres. Proceeds will be used to fund the publication of L. A. Youth’s February issue commemorating Black History Month.

* Therapeutic Living Center for the Blind, a year-round residential nonprofit facility in Reseda, received $100,000 from the estate of the late Nathaniel Dumont. The gift, received Nov. 1, will be used for education, recreation and social integration of the people served by the center.

* City of Hope Medical Center received $3 million from the 15th Annual Harvest Ball held Nov. 16 at the Century Plaza Hotel; $1.1 million of the total was raised through the Coupons of Hope, a food manufacturers coupon book program. Sponsor of the event is the Food Industries Circle for the City of Hope. All funds benefit the medical center’s patient care, scientific research and medical education in the major diseases, such as leukemia.

* Friends of the River held its 5th annual auction Oct. 21 at the Marina City Club. The live and silent auctions raised $35,000 for the group’s work in protecting free-flowing rivers and in conserving water and energy.

* American Diabetes Assn. of California will receive $20,000 from the association’s Quilt Guild Committee’s 2nd annual holiday auction, held Nov. 10 at the UCLA Sunset Canyon Recreation Center. Proceeds will be used for research and for programs to help people with diabetes. Marilyn Stader and Myrna Villanueva were event co-chairs.

* Glendale Memorial Hospital’s fund-raiser, “An Evening of Wine and Roses III,” was hosted by Glendale Memorial Health Foundation and Hospital Guild Sept. 30. The hospital’s planned Heart and Emergency Center, expected to open in late 1992, was the beneficiary of net proceeds totaling $101,000.

* The Arthritis Foundation, San Fernando Valley Branch, netted more than $40,000 at its “Applause ‘90” event, which featured a children’s fashion show and dinner attended by more than 200 guests. The Nov. 4th event was chaired by Florine Silverman; Larry Van Nuys of KTLA presided over the affair.