SAN DIEGO – While the Oscars are being handed out Sunday in Los Angeles, a select group of people in San Diego will be cheering for the winners … and raising money to support The Trevor Project.

The inaugural fundraiser, “Red Carpet Relief: A Benefit for The Trevor Project,” will begin at 4 p.m. in the Mission Hills home of Mark Weis. Tickets to the event cost $35.

All proceeds will go toward supporting the crucial work of The Trevor Project, which maintains the nation’s only 24-hour suicide and crisis prevention hotline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth.

About 30 tickets remain, said Drew Auker, event organizer and Red Carpet Relief sponsorship coordinator. Auker and his partner Arlon Jay Staggs are the founders of the charity.

Auker, 29, said he and Staggs were looking for ways to help the younger generation who will be our future leaders.

“I wanted to make a difference,” Auker said. “I love making a difference.”

The couple had been actively involved in the Human Rights Campaign, which is more issues-oriented, and felt compelled to shift their energy to charitable efforts that make an immediate impact. That’s when they discovered The Trevor Project.

“When we were younger, we didn’t have resources like that,” Auker said.

Staggs, a big fan of the Oscars, came up with the idea of tying the Academy Awards to the fundraiser for The Trevor Project. The organizers quickly lined up an impressive list of sponsors – who are listed on their Web site.

“Businesses and people who sponsor a benefit for The Trevor Project are assured of one thing: Their money supports programs that literally save young lives,” Staggs said. “It’s one of the most moving organizations I have ever worked with.”

Ultimately, that’s why Staggs and his colleagues chose Trevor as the beneficiary of their event.

“Every one of our LGBTQ organizations is critical to our movement, but this life-saving work is unique to the Trevor Project. It’s been easy for us to get behind its mission,” Staggs said.

About The Trevor Project
The Trevor Project is the leading national organization focused on crisis and suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. Every day, The Trevor Project saves young lives through its free and confidential helpline, in-school workshops, educational materials, online resources and advocacy.

The organization was founded in 1998 by three filmmakers whose film, “Trevor,” a comedy/drama about a gay teenager who attempts suicide, received the 1994 Academy Award® for Best Short Film (Live Action). Visit www.TheTrevorProject.org for more information.

About Red Carpet Relief
Red Carpet Relief is an Academy Awards viewing party and fundraising event planned and organized by a group of San Diegans to benefit the work of The Trevor Project. For more information, visit www.redcarpetrelief.org, or contact Arlon Jay Staggs at arlon@redcarpetrelief.org or (619) 865-5199.