Los Angeles Charities Rarely on Hollywood’s ‘Must Do’ Lists

This is pretty sad actually...

"LOS ANGELES — When Michael Jackson was memorialized at the Staples Center here in July, celebrities sang, eulogized and openly wept. What they did not do was offer to pick up the city’s $1.4 million tab.

The president of LA’s Best says it may be losing out on aid because it is not a national program.

This is getting to be a habit in Los Angeles.

After helping to build some of the city’s most impressive monuments over the last century — including the downtown music center, with its Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and Disney Concert Hall — show business has been stepping back, according to nonprofit organizations in the city and some people in the entertainment industry.

While big companies and their leaders have historically helped out their hometowns in a pinch, out of benevolence or for bragging rights, Hollywood has been playing a relatively minor role in the civic life of Los Angeles, preferring national and international charities, say political leaders and many who care for those in need in the city.

“You might even call it an exodus,” said Peter Douglas, the president of a Los Angeles-oriented foundation, started by his parents, Kirk and Anne Douglas, referring to Hollywood’s tendency to look past the locals.

Though there are signs that some in the entertainment industry are increasingly uncomfortable with its largely out-of-town donations, the pattern has been clear for years: Homelessness in Santa Monica is eschewed in favor of starvation in Darfur, health care in South Los Angeles draws less than a search for cancer cures.

The reasons vary: Hollywood companies, once local, are now part of multinational corporations; the recession has taken a toll; some celebrities prefer issues that bring publicity, or support the towns they come from; and the insular nature of star life in a car-bound city may limit knowledge of local needs.

“We have had publicists sniff us and ask if we’re expanding across country,” said Carla Sanger, the president of LA’s Best, a nonprofit agency that runs recreation programs in elementary schools. “When they find out the answer is no, they back off.”

The City Council president, Eric Garcetti, who represents the Hollywood neighborhood, said his office had been frustrated in efforts to get studios to donate even small amounts to save a popular Hollywood Christmas parade.

While some entertainment companies have contributed to the city’s Heritage Month Celebrations and some celebrities have donated reading time at the Gregory Peck Reading Series, which benefits the city’s Library Foundation, stars and their employers have done little to pay for major civic events in the last few years in Los Angeles, according to data provided by the mayor’s office. ..."
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