AIDS Care Raises $18,000 at Auction
The Ventura group AIDS Care raised $18,000 in an auction of movie souvenirs, vacation packages and artwork to area residents.
About 250 people attended the Friday night benefit at the Poinsettia Pavilion in Ventura to mingle with television and movie stars and bid on items ranging from a jar of Ronald Reagan’s jelly beans to a cigar signed by James Coburn.
The highest bid on an item was $800 for an etching by Ojai artist Beatrice Wood.
“We had a blast; we met celebrities and we raised money for a good cause,” said Ron Halleran, a Moorpark College professor who organized the auction. Halleran said he contacted more than 300 celebrities to collect the 60 items that were eventually auctioned. An additional 60 items were donated from restaurants, hotels and other businesses.
People were most excited by the presence of actor Scott Bakula, who starred in the television program “Quantum Leap,” and actress Eileen Brennan, known for her role in the movie “Private Benjamin.”
The evening was capped when Bakula auctioned the baseball cap off his head for $150. Halleran told Bakula: “I wish you had brought 100 hats!”
The money raised at the auction will go to support Ventura County residents who have acquired immune deficiency syndrome or the HIV virus, which causes AIDS. AIDS Care, a nonprofit group, provides counseling, and financial and educational support to county residents.
According to Halleran, the number of people receiving help from the group doubled in the last year to 160, and the group expects the number to double again in the next year.
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