Quick Whirl Around the Fall Fund-Raising Season

As the fall social- and fundraising season nears its end, we note some of the events that have made it a stellar one:

Big Sisters of Los Angeles honored actor Robin Williams and director Julie Taymor at the Rising Stars 2000 gala on Oct. 26. Olympic athletes Jenny Johnson and her brother, U.S. javelin finalist Josh Johnson, received the Young Heroes Award. Martin Mull and Fred Willard hosted the evening at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, which raised more than $500,000 for Big Sisters programs throughout Los Angeles. . . .

An Evening of Song and Spirit, held at the home of Tara Lynda and Peter Guber in Bel-Air on Oct. 26 to benefit Gaiam Yoga for Life, a yoga instruction program for children in inner city schools, raised $250,000. . . .

The 13th annual Buenanueva Foundation Gala held at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles on Oct. 27 honored Coca Cola Co. executive Rudy M. Beserra. Diane Medina of Walt Disney Co. chaired the event, which raised $140,000 to assist teen mothers in the greater Los Angeles area. . . .

The Children Affected by AIDS Foundation’s seventh annual Dream Halloween, staged at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar on Oct. 28, raised $1.2 million. Whoopi Goldberg served as honorary chairwoman of the event.

A fund-raiser sponsored by A2Z Educational Advocates at the Beverly Hill Hotel on Oct. 28 raised $50,000 for the Blind Children’s Center and the Autism Society of Los Angeles. . . .

Gov. Gray Davis and his wife, Sharon, composer David Foster and Dr. Howard House were honored with Albert Schweitzer Leadership Awards at the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Awards Dinner held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Oct. 30. Other honorees included Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard Parks, Compensation Resource Group Chief Executive William L. MacDonald and attorney Daniel J. McLoon. The dinner raised $360,000 for youth programs. . . .

The Ryman-Carroll Foundation, which provides classical art instruction free of charge to talented high school students in the Los Angeles area, raised more than $85,000 at its Affair of the Art 2000 on Oct. 20 and 21 at the Walt Disney Animation Research Library in Glendale. More than 700 young artists have graduated from the program since it was established in 1990 in memory of inspiring artist and teacher Herbert D. Ryman. . . .

Vin Scully, Hall of Fame announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers and recipient of the Sportcaster of the Century Award, was honored at the eighth annual Caritas Award Gala sponsored by St. John’s Health Center Foundation on Oct. 21. Event chairwoman Evelyn Franco reports that the evening, held at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City and which featured actors Kevin Costner and Robert Wagner, raised more than $600,000 for the neonatal intensive care unit at the Santa Monica hospital. . . .

The American Youth Symphony kicked off its 36th season on Oct. 22 with a free concert at UCLA’s Royce Hall featuring the West Coast debut of 12-year-old violinist Ryu Goto, brother of the renowned violin virtuoso Midori. The concert and post-performance dinner were underwritten by the Ernst Jechart Memorial Fund, which was established for the symphony by Jenny Jechart in honor of her late husband. . . .

The seventh annual Beach Ball sponsored by the Santa Monica Baykeeper held Oct. 21 at the Hugh and Hazel Darling Law Library at the UCLA School of Law raised $80,000 for environmental programs to preserve and protect Santa Monica and San Pedro Bays. . . .

“Cruisin’ into the 20th Century,” the 27th annual Tournament Day sponsored by the National Charity League, South Coast chapter, raised $60,000. Leslie Brocoff chaired the event held Oct. 23 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Long Beach. . . .

The 10th-anniversary Golf Classic to benefit the American Red Cross, San Gabriel Valley Chapter, held Oct. 23 at South Hills Country Club in West Covina, raised more than $50,000. . . .

“Enchanted Garden,” an afternoon garden party held on Oct. 15 at Ivy Wall, the Pasadena estate of Carlotta Busch Webster, raised more than $145,000 for the Pasadena Playhouse. . . .

The sixth annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles staged Oct. 15 drew 28,000 participants and raised $3.2 million. . . .

Citylive 2000, the ninth annual fund-raiser for Weingart Center, the downtown Los Angeles agency for the homeless, raised more than $320,000. The event held Oct. 17 on the Laramie Street back lot at Warner Bros. studios in Burbank honored Aaron Sorkin, creator of “The West Wing,” and Richard Harnack of Union Bank of California. . . .

Members of Cedars-Sinai’s COACH for Kids Mobile Clinic kicked off its first Valentine’s Ball, to be held in February, with a luncheon co-hosted by Saks Fifth Avenue on Oct. 18 at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills. Board members recently held a “Family to Family” clothing giveaway at the Pueblo Del Rio Housing Project in Los Angeles to provide winter clothing and shoes to disadvantaged families. Kari Yedor and Teri and Chuck Woolery distributed nearly 100 bags of clothing at the project’s community center. . . .

Beverly Hills attorney Leonard Unger and the Joseph Drown Foundation were presented with the Jane Wyman Humanitarian Award for their support of the Arthritis Foundation on Oct. 18 at the Commitment to a Cure gala. More than $550,000 was raised at the event held at the Beverly Hills Hotel. . . .

On Oct. 18, members of Las Floristas presented a check for $320,000, proceeds from last spring’s Floral Headdress Ball, to Las Floristas Children’s Charities at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Downey. . . .

Ginny Sydorick’s stunning Beverly Hills home was the setting for the annual tea on Oct. 10 honoring new and 20-year members of the Center Theatre Group Affiliates. . . .

The preview performance of “The Lion King” at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood on Oct. 10 sponsored by the Associates of the House Ear Institute raised more than $12,000, reports event coordinator Tania Norris. . . .

The Alliance for Children’s Rights raised $20,000 at the first Girls’ Night, staged at makeup artist Valerie Sarnelle’s Beverly Hills studio. Barbara Grushow and Suzanne Todd co-chaired the event held Oct. 11. . . .

Beverly Hills philanthropist Sir Arthur Gilbert and Burbank optometrist Wayne W. Hoeft were honored by the nonprofit Center for the Partially Sighted at its annual Hope in Sight dinner held Oct. 11 at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The event raised $160,000 for vision rehabilitation programs. . . .

The FRIENDS (Friends of Research, Investigation and Education in Neurological Diseases) of Neurology Luncheon held Oct. 11 held at the Beverly Hills Hotel featuring guest speakers Holly Robinson Peete and Charles Champlin raised more than $45,000. The group supports research and treatment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. . . .

For their significant service to the Latino community, the March of Dimes fifth annual Viva Los Ninos awards gala on Oct. 12 at the Regal Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles honored Cora M. Tellez, chief executive of Health Net; Carmen Zapata, co-founder of the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts; Minnie Lopez-Baffo, community affairs manager of the Southern California Gas Co.; and the cast members of Showtime’s “Resurrection Blvd.” More than $80,000 was raised for birth-defect prevention programs in Spanish-speaking communities. . . .

The Young Musicians Foundation’s 46th annual Masked Gala, “A Night in Venice,” held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Oct. 13 honored John Lithgow, songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and jazz musician Corky Hale Stoller. Merv Griffin, who serves on the foundation’s board, emceed the evening, which included a performance by 11-year-old pianist Michael Jung, a YMF scholarship recipient. Susan Chalek chaired the gala, which was sponsored by Jan and Moe Grendale. . . .

More than $300,000 was raised at the Noel Foundation’s “Life” awards gala on Oct. 14 honoring Sherry Lansing, Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Dharma Master Cheng Yen. The proceeds are earmarked for cancer research at City of Hope and Cedars-Sinai Medical Centers, Southern California Special Olympics, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, Human Rights Watch and Missionaries of Charity, Los Angeles adoption program. . . .

The Latin Entertainment Media Institute’s Starlit Awards Gala held at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on Oct. 14 raised nearly $25,000. The event honored Dennis Leoni, executive producer of Showtime’s “Resurrection Blvd.” and Jeff Valdez, creator, writer and producer of Nickelodeon’s “The Brothers Garcia.” . . .

Robert Beltran, a.k.a. “Star Trek’s” Cmdr. Chakotay, hosted the third annual Galaxy Ball to benefit the Down Syndrome Assn. of Los Angeles on Oct. 14. The Trekkies’ all-day mini-convention and dinner-dance held at the Airport Marriott Hotel raised more than $44,000. . . .

Matthew Perry hosted the Lili Claire Foundation’s fund-raiser on Oct. 14 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. This year’s event, honoring CBS Entertainment President Nancy Tellem, raised more than $350,000 to benefit people living with Williams Syndrome and other neurogenetic birth defects such as Down syndrome. . . .

Cindy Crawford, Tea Leoni and Richard Roundtree served as honorary chairmen of the fifth annual Expedition Inspiration Take-a-Hike for Breast Cancer Research on Oct. 14 in Malibu. Hike chairman Brenda Himelfarb reports that this year’s event raised $76,000. . . .

The L.A. Philharmonic’s opening-night gala on Oct. 5, marking the 80th birthday of violinist Isaac Stern, raised more than $500,000 for the musicians’ pension fund. Stephen Frank chaired the event staged in the Grand Hall of the Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County following the concert conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and featuring violinst Gil Shaham and pianist Yefim Bronfman with actor Leonard Nimoy as host.