HUNGER FUND-RAISER SET

The issue of hunger, which has been spotlighted in such dramatic campaigns as USA for Africa and Live Aid, gets its most ambitious local pop showcase Tuesday night at the Universal Amphitheatre.

Rick Springfield, Cheech Marin, El DeBarge, the Motels, the Yellowjackets, Tierra and comedian Bill Maher will join in an 8 p.m. concert to raise funds for Love Is Feeding Everyone. The nonprofit organization (LIFE) distributes food to an estimated 15,000 people weekly in East Los Angeles, South Central Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.

Sandy Mullins, executive director of LIFE, said the concert represents an opportunity to focus attention on and raise funds for the problems of hunger in Los Angeles. Everyone attending the concert is asked to donate at least one can of food.

“The recent spotlight that pop artists have brought to the issue of hunger has helped LIFE and other food programs throughout the nation,” Mullins said. “Most of the money so far has gone to the very desperate situation in Ethiopia, but the need at home is also reaching epidemic proportions. There are more than 33 million hungry Americans, including 1.3 million in and around Los Angeles.

“We find in our work at LIFE that people are responding to the need once they are made aware of the situation--not just by giving us food and money, but also by volunteering their time. We now have more than 800 volunteers working with us around the city.”

LIFE was founded in 1983 by Dennis Weaver and Valarie Harper. Other entertainers who are active in the group include Maud Adams, Linda Evans, John Forsythe, Harvey Korman and Michael Warren. Concert funds will be used to help expand the organization’s existing food programs, chiefly by adding more food collection vehicles.