TENT CITY ON VENICE BEACH: In December 1987 Yoko Ono-Lennon, widow of Beatle John Lennon, donated $5000 to The Benefit Network for the creation of Tent City, dubbed "Rainbow City". The money was used to shelter and feed over 100 homeless people in surplus army tents for a month during Christmas 1987-88 on Venice Beach, as part of our People In Need project. Then, L.A. City Council called a hasty meeting and changed a long standing but forgotten ordinance that had allowed us to camp there in the first place.  The amended ordinance forced us to leave on Sunday,  Jan.17, 1988 in a wild, wet and windy storm-of- the-year that just washed us away.
	THE BENEFIT BUS:   We used a converted 1962 Bluebird school bus, donated to The Benefit Network, to house some of the homeless in Venice after Tent city.   Meals were prepared, by homeless volunteers on a small propane stove in the tiny kitchen area.  Then served to the homeless at the beach. It worked well for a short time, until the police made us take the bus of the streets.
	SAVE VENICE PAVILION: In 1989 we re-opened the Venice Beach public recreational facility, known as Venice Pavilion after a 15 year moratorium.  We also petitioned the City to halt plans for its destruction. With the help of the ACLU we were able to not only save the pavilion but open it up for public events. Since then, other groups have used the facility on a regular basis.  See our Everyday is Earthday Concert series. Sadly, the Pavilion was finally demolished in April, 2000.
	FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS:  We played a key role in a movement to protect First Amendment Rights of nonprofit groups, organizations and artists to sell their wares and solicit donations on Venice Boardwalk - the battle with the City and the "Merchants of Venice" lasted 3 long years - we were ultimately victorious with the help and leadership of Alliance for Survival's Jerry Rubin and the ACLU -
	EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY:   We produced a series of benefit concerts in Venice Pavilion starting with the 20th Anniversary of Earth Day, 1990 - to raise funds and awareness for homeless and  environmental issues - proceeds went to Ted Hayes' Homeless USA for the development of Genesis I dome village that houses homeless people in L.A.
	RECORDING STUDIO: We had a small store front Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice  where we housed our office and  a rehearsal studio. We collected an impressive array of midi-production recording gear until we had a fully equipped analog and digital 8-track studio.  It is here that we recorded homeless musician "King" Sonny Zorro's  "Millennium" and  initiated our Starving Artists project.