Big Sisters Guild Gala Nets $210,000

Big Sisters of Los Angeles, a nonprofit program serving girls 6 to 16, will receive $210,000 raised at a gala sponsored by the Big Sisters Guild. The fund-raiser, honoring Carol Burnett, was held Nov. 2 at the Beverly Hilton. Proceeds will help provide the ongoing program of matching up Big Sisters as role models for young girls.

* The Amie Karen Cancer Fund has announced receipt of about $400,000 raised at the Rainbow Guild’s 20th anniversary dinner dance at the Beverly Hilton. The Amie Karen fund supports treatment for children with cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Co-chairwomen were Karen Locke, Renee Schnell and Barbara Marcus.

* Lymphoma Research Foundation netted $125,000 at its first fund-raiser, a silent auction held Nov. 12 at the Beverly Hilton. Proceeds will be distributed by the foundation’s medical advisory board to lymphoma research programs. Ellen Glesby Cohen is founder and president.

* John Wayne Cancer Institute at St. Johns Hospital, Santa Monica, will receive more than $200,000 raised at the “Salute to Hollywood” gala held Nov. 24 at the Beverly Hilton. The event was sponsored by the Associates for Breast Cancer Studies. Money will be used for breast cancer research. Martin Roth was chairman.

* Los Angeles Regional Foodbank received a $9,000 grant from Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger. Mazon receives its donations throughout the year from families celebrating holidays, weddings and other happy occasions. The regional food bank works with 600 charitable agencies to feed 252,000 people weekly in Los Angeles County.

* Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Center for Motion Picture Study received a $25,000 donation from former academy president and multiple Oscar-winner Robert Wise. The donation goes to the endowment campaign for the film study center in Beverly Hills.

* Olive Crest, a nonprofit organization that provides shelter for abused children, held its gourmet feast Nov. 21 at the Ritz-Carlton in Dana Point. The $15,000 netted will be used for ongoing programs. Bill Yingling, George Argyros Jr. and Vic Trutanich organized the event.

* Friends of the Family, a nonprofit family counseling and education center in Van Nuys, received a $7,500 grant from the Child Abuse Fund, part of the philanthropy of In-N-Out Burger.

* Cara a Cara Latino AIDS Project of the Hollywood Sunset Community Clinic received an $18,000 grant Nov. 26 from the Burroughs Wellcome Co. The grant will fund an HIV-awareness radio campaign targeted at the Latino community.

* The Exchange Club South Bay Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse received more than $4,000 at a fund-raising event Nov. 6 at the Comedy and Magic Club in Hermosa Beach. The center provides free counseling to South Bay families.

* Conrad N. Hilton Foundation has announced grants to the following Los Angeles institutions: Children’s Institute International received $50,000 on Nov. 26. The grant will go toward construction of a Child/Family Development Center at Harbor/UCLA Medical Center. Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center will receive $500,000 over a five-year period for expansion of its obstetrics department. The expansion will enable the medical center to serve an additional 2,700 low-income women annually and more effectively address the problem of low birth-weight infants and infant mortality.