Charity Scorecard

About 400 guests enjoyed live opera music at ARIA!’s “Summer Opera Ball” held July 25 in the garden of the Lindemann family estate in Bel-Air. Nearly $30,000 was raised for L.A. Opera and the company’s education and community programs. The performers included soprano Catherine Ireland, mezzo-soprano Theresa Brown, tenor Gabriele Passos, and bass-baritone Cedric Berry, all of the L.A. Opera. Piano accompaniment was provided by L.A. Opera’s chorus master and head of music staff, William Vendice. Celebrities included Bill Campbell of “The Rocketeer,” Blake Lindsley of “Swingers” and “Starship Troopers,” and Tracy Oldman of “Baywatch.” ARIA! board members include founder and chairman Mark Anchor Albert, chief vice chairman Jay Maddox, ball chairs Desiree Badr and Jessica Lee, ball co-chairs Melinda Brower and Ranlyn Tilly Hill, ball hostess Lindsley, and PR chair Dana Ann Wilkey. Donations came from LA Cellular, Dean Rhoades Salon, Seagram’s Absolut, Regal Rents and Virgin Cola, among other companies. ARIA! is a group of young professionals that supports the L.A. Opera and the L.A. Opera League.

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Vistas for Blind Children and the Institute for Families of Blind Children raised nearly $150,000 at a July 26 underwriting champagne luncheon on the grounds of the Nan and Reed Harman estate in Palos Verdes Estates. About 60 people attended the event, which was a kickoff for Friday’s “Miracles” gala. The gala, held at the Beverly Hilton, raised money to establish a clinical treatment and research center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles to help fight retinoblastoma, a rare, life-threatening eye cancer than can strike infants. Guests of the luncheon were entertained by Davis Gaines, Broadway’s longest-starring lead in “The Phantom of the Opera.” Event co-chairs were Matthew Ashford of “Days of Our Lives,” Hunter Tylo of “The Bold and the Beautiful” and her husband, Michael Tylo of “The Young and the Restless” and “General Hospital.” The Ashfords and the Tylos have daughters afflicted with the disease.

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The 5,000 guests who attended AIDS Project Los Angeles’ 14th annual “Summer of Love” party raised more than $300,000 for the services it provides to more than 7,000 men, women and children with HIV / AIDS in Los Angeles County. The July 18 event at Universal Studios’ New York Street lot included food from more than 100 restaurants, a silent auction, a country and western dance stage, a disco and a stand-up comedy show with Margaret Cho headlining. Actress-model Carol Alt also attended.

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More than 1,200 guests danced to the music of Boogie Knights at “The Justice Ball” held July 20 at the House of Blues club. The annual summer fund-raiser grossed $160,000 for Bet Tzedek (House of Justice), which provides free legal services to the indigent, elderly and disabled.

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Has your group held a charity fund-raiser recently? Let us know about it. We will report on selected local benefit projects and events. Please tell us about your organization and the charity you support, how much you raised, how the charity uses your gift and the details of your event--what, when and where. Send a letter or press release to Social Sunday, Life & Style, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or fax to (213) 237-4888.