A Fall Sampler of Charity Success Stories

The heat’s on. Society is perspiring with the onslaught of September events. There’s no way to do them justice, the conscientious charity mavens who’ve worked all summer to make the fall social scene unique and ultimately financially successful. And, so, a Society Sampler:

Health events are paramount. The California Institute for Cancer Research, which has changed its name to the Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation/UCLA in support of the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA, chooses “What a Wonderful World” for its gala Saturday at the Century Plaza.

Co-chairmen Helene Brown and Harvey Kibel have lined up Rita Moreno to headline entertainment and Les Brown and his band for dancing. Gerald and Virginia Oppenheimer will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Dr. William P. Longmire Jr. the Jonsson Prize for Cancer Research.

For health, too: The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation premieres its Los Angeles Promise Ball with a sizzling 1920s do Oct. 4 at the Beverly Hilton. The ball’s dedicated to the international chairwoman, Mary Tyler Moore. Party planners are Brooke Young, Connie Fishbach and Lia Iacocca.

Actress Mariette Hartley will be honored by the California Family Study Center at a fund-raiser chaired by Mary McAlister and Gloria Mahdesian Oct. 5 at the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum . . . Pacific Clinics Affiliates celebrate 65 years of mental health service Friday in Pasadena at the home of Russell and Louise Osterman . . . And four creative chairmen--Jackie Applebaum, Veronica Chambers, Annie Gilbar and Sybil Goldrich--are giving their blood for a cause. At the breakfast they will hold Wednesday in Beverly Hills, a lab technician will ask eligible guests to give a small test tube of blood to participate in a UCLA research study on breast implants and silicone toxicity.

ESCALATION: Julie Andrews and Blake Edwards lend their Malibu home for the Operation USA dinner and celebrity auction with Nancy Wilson on Oct. 19, a fete to add to the $75 million already raised for humanitarian aid in 46 countries. . . .

Junior Charity League dolls up Saturday at the Los Angeles Athletic Club for a Monte Carlo Night. Co-chairwomen Nancy Herman and Cynthia Kawasaki will donate proceeds to the USC-National Charity League workshops for teachers. . . .

PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) kicks off its holiday Imaginary Feast (a non-event mail campaign to feed the homeless on the Westside) Oct. 9 at the home of Ken Dragen.

ANIMALS: On the heels of this month’s Beastly Ball for the the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. and a gross of $420,000 (the disappointing drop from last year’s $505,000 is attributed partly to the recession), comes another zoo event tonight at Geary’s Beverly Hills. On view will be the 144-piece Lalique Crystal Animal Menagerie.

ENVIRONMENT, TOO: Robert Redford is keynoter for the Environmental Media Assn. gala Monday chaired by Peter Guber, Donald R. Keough and Tina Brown at Sony Studios in Culver City. . . .

And Saturday, with hot weather ahead, TreePeople parties at its “Evening Under the Harvest Moon” benefit at Mulholland and Coldwater.

MIDAS TOUCHES: UCLA is reveling in the $92.8 million raised last year in private gifts, as Robert E. Wycoff, president and chief operating officer of Arco, launches the new United Way Campaign and an $88-million goal. Won’t it be difficult in this recession? Wycoff’s attitude: “People will respond to need, and the need is great.”

PAST PERFECT: A guest at the “Evening in Central Park” sit-down dinner for Pasadena Planned Parenthood looked at the full moon and sky and said, “This is a Guatemalan tapestry sunset.” The affair, featuring a “Tavern on the Green” style dinner at the Sierra Madre villa of Lon and Hester Bell, will net a joyous $80,000, says president Linda Jenkins. Chairmen were Pat Glazier and Laura Graney. . . .

Katherine and Tom Pike and Jack Duggan are proud of the $25,000 raised Sunday at Art Center College of Design to aid Casa de las Amigas, a recovery home for alcoholic women. . . .

The La Jolla League of the American Cancer Society and its co-chairs Grace Malloy and Pat Tapp take a rest after their fund-raiser with Capriccio fashions.

Patrick Swayze, William Shatner and Linda Blair were among the glitterati having “Champagne at Cartier” Tuesday evening in Beverly Hills to support the American Horse Shows Assn.

LUNCHES GALORE: Everything was coming up roses at Elise Rips’ Beverly Hills garden for the Center Theatre Group Volunteers luncheon. . . .

At the California Museum of Science and Industry, the Muses honored Lt. Cmdr. Rose Escobedo, RN (involved with Operation Desert Storm) at its 27th Woman of the Year Luncheon. . . .

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s Women of the Endowment Circle were the first to celebrate the grand opening of the new Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel.

THE HOSPITALS: Supporters of Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena danced to Boy Howdy and learned the latest dance steps at the 100th Congress’s “Dancing in the Street” benefit. . . .

The rooftop of Methodist Hospital in Arcadia became “One Enchanted Evening” Saturday for the hospital’s Colleagues benefit. . . .

Sixty-five anglers on 27 boats raised $23,000 at Hoag Hospital’s 552 Club Billfish Tournament, culminating in the awards dinner at the Newport Beach Country Club. . . .

Lucie Arnaz was in concert at Torrance Memorial Medical Center Health Care Foundation’s gala Saturday honoring Don and Elinor Wilson, the foundation’s largest contributors.

KUDOS: William F. Buckley Jr. keynotes California Business Magazine’s “Excellence in Education Awards” black-tie dinner Oct. 8 at the Century Plaza. Twenty-five awards will be given. . . .

At the Biltmore, Chrysalis, the Skid Row agency dedicated to the homeless, honored the Rev. Donald P. Merrifield, chancellor of Loyola Marymount University, with its Spirit of Chrysalis Award. . . .

UCLA Chancellor Charles and Sue Young will honor Iris Cantor of Beverly Hills at a reception next Thursday at the Iris Cantor Center for Breast Imaging, which she has established.

KEEP DANCING: The tea dance, sometimes called a dansant, was the rage of Edwardian times. It also became known as a tango tea as society sashayed up and down the Riviera. It disappeared during World War I, reappeared in the Roaring ‘20s, then rested with rock. But now, it’s back. The Ritz-Carlton, Huntington has inaugurated the Sunday Afternoon Tea Dance. The Pasadena Playhouse Playhouse benefited from the inaugural affair earlier this month featuring tea, scones, tangos, ragtime and waltzes.