Soon after AIDS patient Ryan White won his poignant battle to remain in public school in Indiana, a group called Athletes and Entertainers for Kids signed on as his national fund-raising arm.
Together they became a potent force on the Hollywood charity circuit.
The entertainment community turned out in droves in 1988 for a glitzy benefit at the Century Plaza Hotel headlined by pop star Elton John, with tickets going for as much as $2,000 apiece.
In the following year, Athletes and Entertainers put on an equally spectacular fund-raiser honoring Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The tribute to the retiring basketball legend was broadcast on national television.
Last spring, former President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan attended an Academy Awards night party to benefit the charity. It also was White's last public appearance.
Seven months since his death, White's name still appears on Athletes and Entertainers' fund-raising appeals, and his mother, Jeanne White, remains among its biggest boosters. But now the organization's achievements as well as its fiscal management are being called into question.
John, who was at White's bedside during his final hours, has severed his ties to Athletes and Entertainers because a $25,000 donation he made to the charity for use by the White family was never turned over to them.
Relations between the two camps soured even further last week when Athletes and Entertainers named John a recipient of its first annual Ryan White Memorial Award, without his advance knowledge. John's management said the singer does not want the award and will not attend the presentation ceremony.
John is not the only one who has sought to distance himself from the charity. Two of the largest hospitals that specialize in treating youngsters, Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center and Childrens Hospital in Hollywood, have significantly curbed their dealings with Athletes and Entertainers, reportedly because of unkept promises by the charity.
Athletes and Entertainers was also barred from raising funds in the city of Los Angeles for two months this year for failing to file required financial disclosure reports. The state attorney general's registry of charitable trusts cited the group in May for the same failure.
Elise Kim, the group's founder and executive director, conceded in a recent interview that the charity has been guilty of some sloppy bookkeeping, but denied anything improper has occurred and said efforts are under way to improve the charity's management with the help of the Nissan Motor Corp. of America.
