Public Counsel Benefit Brings Group $280,000

Public Counsel honored Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals with the William O. Douglas Award at its 17th benefit gala April 1 at the Beverly Hilton. The net proceeds of $280,000 will be used for general operating expenses. Since Public Counsel’s inception in 1970, 4,000 attorneys and 3,000 law students have donated their expertise to provide free legal services for the needy. The event was co-chaired by Margaret Levy and Penelope von Kalinowski.

John Wayne Cancer Institute Auxiliary held its Odyssey Ball on Saturday at the Beverly Hilton. The gala, attended by more than 675 guests, netted about $325,000. Marilyn August, Ilene Eisenberg and Lois Rosen were co-chairs.

Junior League of Los Angeles Inc. raised $30,000 at its first golf tournament, March 22 at the Wilshire Country Club. Proceeds will fund such league programs as Ask Us About AIDS, which provides peer counseling for middle school students in Culver City.

Little Company of Mary Hospital in Torrance announced receipt of $136,000, raised by sales of baked goods and jewelry, and other events. Proceeds will buy equipment for the emergency, maternal and child-health departments.

Hospice of Pasadena Inc., celebrating its 15th anniversary March 17 at First Congregational Church in Pasadena, announced a $2,500 donation from Las Primas del Campo, an organization of women that supports the hospice.

Vital Options, which provides services to young adults with cancer, raised $10,000 at its Feb. 6 benefit dinner at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City. The organization will begin a new support group in early May in the Crenshaw area.