Aids Project Los Angeles

Carole Cook, Donna McKechnie and Justin Guarini will be among the performers paying tribute to composer Burt Bacharach at the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills this weekend at the 24th annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event to raise money for AIDS Project Los Angeles. The entertainment will include an adaptation of Bacharach's Broadway musical "Promises, Promises" featuring Vicki Lewis and Daniel Gurwin. "Blame It on Bacharach!"

Lynnea Lawson and her friend Mimi Hill, both 26, met two decades ago at a camp for children with HIV and AIDS. They have remained friends ever since. On Sunday, they were among more than 30,000 people who participated in the 27th annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles. The event raises money for AIDS Project Los Angeles and related service organizations. This year's event raised more than $3 million. Hill -- a longtime participant who, like Lawson, was born with HIV -- wore a hand-painted white T-shirt with "AIDS Walk 2011 -- We've got to keep fighting" in big black letters.

The setting for the safe-sex workshop could not have been more apropos. Amid fruit-flavored condoms in candy jars, and condom earrings with peace signs, a group of employees from the Melrose Avenue boutique "Condomania" learned how to broach the touchy subject with their customers and among themselves. The candid discussion Monday, as might be expected, caused some to blush.

30 years of AIDS Re "A mixed picture of AIDS at 30," June 5 In October 1981, my father had heart surgery; he recovered quickly and began a healthier life. At the time he was a very successful attorney in Los Angeles. Three years later he started to get sick and had to stop working. Not one doctor knew what was wrong or how to help him. He died in 1987 because of the transfusion of HIV-tainted blood during his surgery. My mother lied to her friends and told them he died of cancer because of the stigma of AIDS.

AIDS Chair: Producer Steve Tisch is the new chair of AIDS Project Los Angeles, succeeding David Wexler, who has served in that capacity since 1989. Tisch has been a member of the board since April, 1991.

Stephen Bennett, a former executive director of the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation of Los Angeles and Ventura County, has been named chief executive officer of the AIDS Project Los Angeles. Bennett, 39, assumed the $100,000-a-year position this week after a nationwide search that lasted six months. Bennett, who also has extensive experience in the private sector, said he will focus on improving client services and building a stronger board of directors and fund-raising capabilities.

Commitment to Perform: Barbra Streisand, already set as an honoree, has agreed to perform at the sixth Commitment to Life gala Nov. 18 at Universal Amphitheater. Natalie Cole also has been added to the talent lineup for the AIDS Project Los Angeles event.

Regarding AIDS Project Los Angeles and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, it is a terrible shame that the church is more concerned with preserving its superstitious dogma than with saving lives. D. NEIL HOROHO West Hollywood

More than 25,000 people are expected to take to the streets on Sunday for AIDS Walk Los Angeles, which benefits AIDS Project Los Angeles and other local AIDS organizations. Streets along the route will be closed from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

A low-rent apartment building for people with AIDS will open in August, according to AIDS Project Los Angeles and Christopher Street West/Los Angeles, the two groups that will manage the complex. The eight-unit building, on Fountain Avenue near Lyman Place, will be the first low-income housing facility in Los Angeles dedicated to people with AIDS, said David Smith, spokesman for Christopher Street West, which produces the Gay and Lesbian Pride parade in Los Angeles.

Carol Channing, Robert Morse, Rita Moreno and Tyne Daly are among the Broadway veterans who'll be belting out show tunes in "Original Cast 2," a benefit on April 2 to raise money for AIDS Project Los Angeles. Others who'll be reprising numbers from such productions as "Company," "Hello Dolly," "Showboat," "Three Penny Opera" and "Miss Saigon" include Philip Casnoff, Constance Towers, Patrick Cassidy, Jonelle Allen, Carole Cook, Charlotte Rae, Vicki Lewis and Bill Hutton. The 27th annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Luckman Fine Arts Complex at Cal State Los Angeles.

Carole Cook, Donna McKechnie and Justin Guarini will be among the performers paying tribute to composer Burt Bacharach at the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills this weekend at the 24th annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event to raise money for AIDS Project Los Angeles. The entertainment will include an adaptation of Bacharach's Broadway musical "Promises, Promises" featuring Vicki Lewis and Daniel Gurwin. "Blame It on Bacharach!"

The red ribbons gave way to the pink ribbons, which were overtaken by the yellow wristbands -- until light blue ribbons came along. And they've all been shoved aside by the latest color to wash over Hollywood: green. Maybe it's the burnout factor. Or perhaps it's because Hollywood has a short attention span. But as AIDS enters its 25th year, it is no longer The Cause among celebrities. There is also the perception that AIDS now affects only developing nations instead of the U.S.

Federal funding for medical and social services for low-income HIV/AIDS patients in Los Angeles County was slashed by $1.9 million in 2006, a 5.2% reduction from last year, according to data released this week by the Health Resources and Services Administration. The county will receive $34.9 million for medical and dental care, as well as food, transportation and mental health coverage for its low-income citizens under the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource Emergency Act, down from $36.

More than 25,000 people are expected to take to the streets on Sunday for AIDS Walk Los Angeles, which benefits AIDS Project Los Angeles and other local AIDS organizations. Streets along the route will be closed from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.

With its confluence of wealth, celebrity and media, Los Angeles is a fund-raiser's mecca, a camera-ready locale for a blowout charity gala, marathon or golf tournament. The sluggish economy, however, has slowed charitable giving significantly, even amid this city's millionaire enclaves. As a result, nonprofits are getting more creative with fund-raisers. And among the most innovative are L.A.'s HIV and AIDS service organizations, primarily because 160 of them are competing for donations.

A low-rent apartment building for people with AIDS will open in August, according to AIDS Project Los Angeles and Christopher Street West/Los Angeles, the two groups that will manage the complex. The eight-unit building, on Fountain Avenue near Lyman Place, will be the first low-income housing facility in Los Angeles dedicated to people with AIDS, said David Smith, spokesman for Christopher Street West, the group that produces the Gay and Lesbian Pride parade in Los Angeles.

I was deeply troubled by your article. As chief executive officer of AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), the largest AIDS service organization in California, I can attest to Mayor Bradley's unwavering support of people impacted by HIV. He was one of the first politicians in California to speak out about this disease and put the city's money at the disposal of homeless people with AIDS. Since the position of AIDS program coordinator was created in 1988, we've seen the city spend millions of dollars to fund a variety of programs for people with HIV. The city's AIDS office also created and adopted what has been called the nation's most comprehensive AIDS policy.

After a week of triumph and tragedy, 670 cyclists rode into Los Angeles on Sunday, ending a 600-mile trek to raise money for HIV and AIDS services and educational programs. The inaugural AIDS/LifeCycle was born last fall out of a falling-out between two nonprofit agencies and the promoter of the California AIDS Ride, Los Angeles-based Pallotta TeamWorks.

It's billed as a loose, irreverent ceremony known for honoring such music industry "talents" as "nicest navel," but the "My VH1 Awards" at the Shrine Auditorium on Sunday was tinged with real-life seriousness. Behind the scenes, band handlers in leather pants mingled with several dozen security guards and police officers, and in the Green Room--a tent in the parking lot--entertainment reporters, not allowed to interview the talent up close, watched as celebrities ate, drank and smoked.