Charity Scorecard
Robin Williams was among the 1,500 celebrities and amateur and professional athletes to participate in the 12th annual “Nautica Malibu Triathlon” on Sept. 20. The event raised $50,000 for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and entailed a half-mile swim, an 18-mile bike ride along Pacific Coast Highway and a four-mile run along Zuma Beach to Point Dume and back. Other celebrity participants included Ingo Rademacher, Jose Solano, Ingrid Walters, Andy Lauer, Jason Scheff, Jim Davidson and Mike Malinin. U.S. Olympians Steve Scott, Dave Johnson, Peter Vidmar, Amanda Beard, Mel Stewart and John Naber also competed. “Baywatch’s” Solano was the first to cross the finish line in the celebrity relay division. Williams’ “Team Robin” came in eighth among celebrity relay teams. A highlight was the half-mile swim of 9-year-old Rudy Garcia-Tolson of Bloomington, Calif., who was born with a series of rare congenital birth defects. Both of his legs were amputated when he was 5. In addition, about 200 children took part in the “Nautica Tot Trot,” a 100- to 200-yard dash on the beach. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation is the leading national nonprofit AIDS research foundation, which works to prevent and treat HIV infection in infants and children. Since 1988, the foundation has raised more than $55 million. The triathlon was sponsored by Nautica, PowerBar and Men’s Health magazine.
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Getty Center architect Richard Meier received the Landmark Achievement of the Arts Award from California First Lady Gayle Wilson on behalf of Phoenix House at a Sept. 14 fund-raiser at the Hotel Bel-Air. About $150,000 was raised at the dinner attended by 142 guests, including Phoenix House Chief Executive Dr. Mitchell S. Rosenthal and wife Sarah, Marvin and Barbara Davis, Jane Eisner, Rose Tarlow, Robert A. and Donna Schuller, Gary and Annie Gilbar, Mo and Evelyn Ostin, Esther and Thomas Wachtell, Harold Williams with wife Nancy Englander and co-chairs Eli Broad and Grant Tinker. Phoenix House, established in 1967, is one of the largest nonprofit substance abuse service agencies in the country, with a residential treatment population of more than 3,000 at 25 facilities in three states. There are 14 Phoenix House facilities in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties. The centers have residential programs, in-prison programs and nonresidential programs.
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The Westside Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles received a $1-million matching grant from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation on Sept. 4. The Baltimore-based foundation’s pledge kicks off a $4-million capital campaign to repair and upgrade the 44-year-old community center. Expanding the center’s programming is also part of the effort. The Senior Chai Center program, serving frail and isolated seniors, recently grew from three days to five days a week; an after-school program servicing local elementary schools recently started; and plans are under way for a Teen Center and an Academy for the Arts. The Westside Jewish Community Center provides services to Jews and non-Jews and houses a health club, two swimming pools, a nursery school, a gymnasium and an auditorium.
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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 news release to Social Sunday, Life & Style, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053, or fax to (213) 237-4888. Submissions must reach us no more than two weeks after the benefit.