Actor Kirk Douglas, who grew up in a family that struggled to put food on the table, joined best-selling author Sidney Sheldon as host of a benefit for Skid Row's Los Angeles Mission.
"I feel strongly that, since I come from immigrant parents, since I've been born in abject poverty, since I've been in the Bowery in New York looking for a meal, that the work that the Los Angeles Mission is doing to help the homeless is something that we have to support," the 72-year-old Douglas said Thursday.The fund-raiser was held at the Sunset Boulevard home of Sheldon, author of such books as "The Other Side of Midnight" and "Windmills of the Gods." The celebrity guest list included Sidney Poitier, Jaclyn Smith, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Red Buttons.
There was no immediate figure available on how much was raised, but the buffet was expected to raise $100,000 for the mission's $11.2 million plan to house more of downtown's homeless and to bolster its rehabilitation program.
"Homeless is not a popular cause. People try to shy away from it. The Los Angeles Mission is doing something to help the homeless, and it is something that we have to support," said Douglas, who details his struggle with poverty in his recently published autobiography, "The Ragman's Son."