Now Selling: Streisand Prime Seats : Pop music: Six area charities holding tickets to the Anaheim concerts say lack of publicity on their availability is hurting sales.

The frenzied public sale of Barbra Streisand tickets last month was over in a flash, but it only marked the beginning of a slow and laborious process for six area charities.

As many as 500 prime seats for each of six shows May 25 through June 4 at the Pond in Anaheim were set aside to be sold by the organizations, providing a chance for each to make as much as $325,000. But some of the charities are worrying that sales are going too slowly, and they blame a difficulty in publicizing the tickets’ availability.

“Getting the word out is hard and none of us wants to spend tens of thousands of dollars on advertising,” says Richard Walden, president of Operation USA/LA Earthquake Relief, which holds 450 tickets to the June 2 concert. So far, 50 of them have been sold.

Each of the charities was given the chance to pay face value--$350--for the tickets, which then could be sold for as much as $1,000 each. The charities’ profit from each ticket would be tax-deductible for the buyers.

Walden said he and his staff have called ticket brokers in the area anonymously and have found that equivalent seats are selling for $1,200 to $1,500. However, he said, “we don’t have the money the ticket brokers have to advertise. We’ve been forced to be very creative about how we find people.”

He said his efforts have been coordinated with those of other charities to avoid an “arms race”; a joint ad recently was placed in the Western edition of the New York Times. A paid ad taken out by Operation USA will appear in Sunday’s L.A. Times Calendar.

The Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles has sold 75 of its 500 tickets, but President Charles Palmer sounded less concerned than Walden, saying he expects sales to pick up as the concert approaches. He agreed, though, that greater publicity would make for a more successful effort.

Streisand’s strategy for assisting charities is an unusual one. A spokesman for the singer said one goal was to partially circumvent the efforts of brokers by forcing them to compete with charities who have direct access to prime seats.

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Spokespersons for all the organizations contacted said the system has some benefits beyond a straight monetary donation. For instance, each organization will be spotlighted during one of the Anaheim concerts, leading to greater publicity and a higher profile.

The effort “has been a real shot in the arm for our staff, who often don’t get this kind of recognition for their work,” Palmer said. “We are of course very grateful. Like many groups, we have had to operate under terrible financial straits as a result of recession.”

“We’re very happy about it,” Walden said. “Of course, we’d prefer to be sold out.”

* The following charities have Streisand tickets available: For May 25, the National Resources Defense Council/Pesticide Campaign, (310) 996-1188; for May 27, the Alliance for Children’s Rights, (310) 393-5600; for May 29, Girls’ Voices Women’s Lives, (310) 478-3002; for May 31, the Legal Aid Foundation, (310) 477-0672; for June 2, Operation USA/LA Earthquake Relief, (310) 559-6370; for June 4, United Friends of the Children, (213) 651-2988.