Gala Raises $775,000 for Legal Aid Group

Bet Tzedek Legal Services honored Gerald Stern, executive vice president and senior general counsel of Occidental Petroleum--and outgoing president of Bet Tzedek--at its annual dinner-dance Jan. 25 at the Century Plaza. The gala netted more than $775,000 for the nonprofit center’s free legal services to low-income, elderly and disabled people. Proceeds also will be used to help prevent homelessness and to protect the elderly from fraud.

Myeloma Foundation honored Nobel laureate Dr. E. Donnall Thomas Jan. 17 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. The gala netted $25,000 and celebrated the foundation’s first year as an international educational resource providing information about myeloma, a form of bone cancer, to doctors and patients.

University of Judaism honored senior vice president Max Vorspan for his more than 40 years of service. The black-tie benefit on Jan. 15 at the Beverly Hilton netted $350,000 for the endowment of the Vorspan Professional Chair in the Arts.” Meyer Hersch and Harold Easton were event co-chairs.

Daniel Freeman Hospitals’ Auxiliary Guild raised $110,000 for its 40th annual Christmas Tree Ball. Funds will be used for the obstetrics unit at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood and the Mobile X-ray Unit at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital, Marina del Rey. The black-tie gala was Dec. 7 at the Ritz-Carlton, Marina del Rey.

Los Angeles Mission received more than $56,000 through holiday greeting card sales. Proceeds will fund rehabilitation, food, clothing, shelter and other services to homeless and destitute men and women.

Family Service of Los Angeles will receive $17,500, net proceeds from the Associates of Family Service’s annual gift boutique/luncheon held in November. Family Service provides counseling through 13 centers and maintains a Suicide Prevention Hotline.

Sephardic Hebrew Academy raised more than $500,000 at a gala on Jan. 22 commemorating the 500th anniversary of the expulsion of Jews from Spain. The more than 1,000 guests at the Beverly Hilton included Bette Midler, Herbie Hancock, Melissa Manchester, Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun, Grey Davis and the evening’s honoree Irving Benveniste.

Cara a Cara Latino AIDS Project of the Hollywood Sunset Community Clinic received a $15,000 grant from Transamerica Occidental Life Insurance Company. The gift is to underwrite T-cell monitoring for low-income people who are HIV positive. The contribution will help enhance and maintain the health of people who have limited access to mainstream medical care, project director Oscar Reconco, said.

Pediatric & Family Medical Center has announced receipt of two checks, $2,500 from Variety Children’s Charities and $9,000 from the Temecula Valley Brewing Company. Funds will help support medical and dental programs and purchase computer equipment for the center’s early intervention and child development programs.