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# REO Speedwagon headlines benefit for the homeless
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/reo-speedwagon-headlines-benefit-for-the-homeless/
- Published: 2007-12-14T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T01:30:17.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Community, Malibu, #archive-import, Homeless

MALIBU The homeless population of Los Angeles County is feeling the love from Hollywood.

Some of the Midnight Mission’s biggest celebrity ambassadors will lend their talents tonight for a benefit concert raising funds for one of the oldest homeless shelters in the county. The charity event — “From Malibu with Love II” — will be co-hosted by actor Dick Van Dyke and NBC Los Angeles weatherman Fritz Coleman, both of whom are long-time supporters of the Midnight Mission, and will feature performances by blues musician John Mayall and REO Speedwagon.

“California is a paradise, but along with paradise comes the ability to grow this huge homeless population out here because of our relatively mild weather, and it just makes the problem worse,” Coleman said on Wednesday. “You can’t help but be affected by the juxtaposition of the great wealth out here against this rising homeless population.”

The event is a follow-up to the shelter’s successful inaugural charity benefit and concert held in March at the Malibu Performing Arts Center. Hosted by Bon Jovi lead guitarist Richie Sambora, the “From Malibu with Love” event sold out with 500 people, raising more than $80,000\. Both benefits were conceived and organized by Norm Harris, a shelter volunteer and guitar shop owner who was able to use his business connections to book the talent for the event. Van Dyke, who served as the chairman of the Midnight Mission’s capital campaign, and Coleman, a long-time supporter of the mission and the Downtown Los Angeles community, were enlisted to host because of their involvement with the Skid Row shelter.

REO Speedwagon’s lead guitarist Dave Amato performed in the first benefit concert in March, asked by his good friend Sambora.

Amato will perform alongside band-mates Kevin Cronin, lead vocalist, and drummer Bryan Hitt.

“There’s a lot of homeless people that need our help,” Amato said on Wednesday. “We should do more benefits for sure. It’s a big problem, we need to try to help as best we can.”

Founder Tom Liddecoat, who was nicknamed “father of the poor,” opened the Midnight Mission to Skid Row’s homeless population in 1914\. Operating on a budget close to $6 million a year, the shelter offers services ranging from housing for 250 formerly homeless men working on substance abuse issues, to free meals, showers, clothing and medical and legal referrals, to affordable housing for families in transition. Last month alone, the shelter served more than 70,000 meals.

Approximately 20 percent of the people that take advantage of the shelter’s services come from other parts of the county, including Santa Monica.

The shelter has seen demand for its services increase by about 30 percent in the past two years, according to Orlando Ward, the director of public affairs at the Midnight Mission, who attributes the reasons to the lack of affordable housing in the region and the lack of treatment centers. Ward has noted seeing more young people come through the shelter.

“We see people in their prime years of earning and raising a family that due to large systematic issues can’t get it done,” Ward said. “Some quite frankly is because of substance abuse, a lack of education to compete in this market.”

The concert will start at 6 p.m. For tickets, visit www.malibuperformingarts-center.com.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 14, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/121407.pdf?ref=smdp.com)