Entertainers play benefit for lupus group at TI

Thursday, June 25, 2009 | 2 a.m.

What: Inaugural Colors of Lupus Gala
When: 6 p.m. Saturday
Where: Treasure Island Ballroom
Tickets: $50 per person, $500 per table; 831-3414

An evening of lighthearted entertainment will be held Saturday at Treasure Island for a very serious cause – lupus.

“This is such a debilitating disease,” says Hui-Lim Ang, founder and executive director of the nonprofit group Colors of Lupus Nevada. “The problem is that lupus does not create a sense of urgency. A person can have it and look just like you or me – it eats you from the inside.”

The benefit, co-sponsored by the Las Vegas Hispanic Council, will include a silent auction, dinner, entertainment and dancing to raise money for the new organization that hopes to make the public more aware of the disease and to help those who suffer from it.

The guest of honor will be Rep. Dina Titus.

Magician and comedian Steve Dacri will host the event. Entertainment includes singers Jeneane Marie, Grant Griffin and Tony Sacca; violinists Olga Breeskin and Willy Wainwright; contortionist Samson the Great; Terry Davis Jr. Band; and Jose Fajardo’s troupe of Mexican folk dancers and mariachis.

Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease that can damage any part of the body — skin, joints, and organs. An estimated 5 million people, including 1.5 million Americans, have lupus.

It can’t be cured, but may go into remission. It is often misdiagnosed - common initial and chronic complaints are fever, malaise, joint pains, myalgias, fatigue and temporary loss of cognitive abilities, symptoms often seen with other diseases.

“It doesn’t cause instant death or grotesque disfigurement, but that doesn’t mean the suffering is not real or the pain is less,” Ang says. “It’s just that nobody knows about it, nobody sees it.”

The Colors of Lupus organization has relied on volunteers in the past, but Ang hopes to raise enough money to hire a small staff and to begin the process of educating the public and helping the victims of the disease.