Back in 1991, Francis and Silva Battista would sit at a card table in front of a market in West Hollywood and ask people to donate to an organization the couple had helped found, an organization that ran a no-kill animal sanctuary in southern Utah.

The mission of that organization — to save as many animals as it could from having to enter shelters and face euthanasia — is still very much the same, but the size and scope of its impact have come a long ways, to say the least, in the 25 years Best Friends has been in business.

Just how far the organization has come since those card table days was made rather evident at the 16th annual Lint Roller Party, held Saturday night, Oct. 3, at the iconic Hollywood Palladium to benefit the work of Best Friends’ Los Angeles Programs.

Live and silent auctions, an award ceremony, video presentations, vegetarian buffet catered by Wolfgang Puck, psychic readings, a wheel of fortune, caricature drawings, a rocking live performance by the Bangles and a bevy of other attractions and fundraising events drew a sweeping array of supporters, members, and benefactors from all over the country to the party. Approximately 600 people attended the event.

“We are celebrating 25 years of saving lives,” said Best Friends co-founder and interim CEO Gregory Castle in his opening remarks to the evening’s presentations. “With your help, we’re saving lives all over the country…. It wouldn’t have been possible without the support you’ve given us.”

Among those in the audience were a host of celebrities, including Lisa Edelstein from the television series “House.” Edelstein delivered the anniversary toast.

“A million thanks to all the founders of Best Friends,” Edelstein said. “We love you and appreciate you, and we’re so happy to be here.”

On the red carpet

Other celebrities to walk the red carpet and pay tribute to Best Friends included Phyllis Smith from “The Office,” Monty Python’s Eric Idle, Amy Smart from the film “Mirrors,” Rachelle Lefevre from the film “Twilight,” Anna Faris from the “Scary Movie” series, M.A.S.H.’s Loretta Swit, film and television legend Robert Culp, as well as veteran actor and newly elected president of the Screen Actors Guild, Ken Howard.

Also there to pay tribute to Best Friends, especially to our work in Los Angeles, was the city’s mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa.

Party emcee Todd Newton introduced Villaraigosa as the man “who will bring No More Homeless Pets to L.A.”

Villaraigosa appeared on stage with Monkey, a dog his girlfriend Lu Parker — a former Miss USA and current KTLA Channel 5 news anchor — adopted from Best Friends.

“You look into the eyes of this dog,” he said about Monkey to underscore the importance of the work Best Friends does, “and you see his soul, and it’s a soul like yours and mine.”

The mayor went on to speak about the importance of the Best Friends’ mission of No More Homeless Pets.

“We need to do a much better job spaying and neutering our animals, but we’re never going to get there without organizations like this one,” Villaraigosa said, referring to Best Friends.

“That the mayor would come and show his support for the work we’re doing ourselves and with other rescue groups was a big highlight for me,” says Elizabeth Oreck, manager of Best Friends’ L.A. Programs and the primary organizer of this year’s Lint Roller.

Monkey twice took the stage, the second time with Parker. Parker gave one of the more passionate presentations of the evening, remembering when she first met Monkey on the set of KTLA Channel 5. Monkey appeared on the station as a featured Best Friends’ adoptable. It didn’t take long for Parker to make her decision to adopt him.

“Best Friends rescued him from the South L.A. shelter,” Parker said, tearing up. “I looked right into his eyes, and I knew.”

Smith, Howard and Lefevre (who is now a spokeswoman for Best Friends’ Puppies Aren’t Products campaign) also took the stage during the course of the evening to present awards to organizations that have made significant contributions to saving the lives of animals in the Los Angeles area. Recipients of the three awards were Forgotten Angels Cat Rescue, H.A.R.T.  (the Humane Animal Rescue Team), and the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, created by actress Katherine Heigl and her mother Nancy in honor of Heigl’s late brother.

An 18th birthday for the books

A dedicated Best Friends’ benefactor, Andrea Levine of Wilmington, Del. wanted to do something extraordinary for her daughter Emily Rogison on her 18th birthday. It so happened that the Lint Roller Party and her daughter’s birthday fell on the same day. Levine surprised her daughter with a trip to Los Angeles so they could attend the party.

“You’ve got such great outreach,” Levine said when asked why she and her daughter would come so far to support Best Friends. “And it’s heartwarming what you do for dogs, especially the Vick dogs.”

A volunteer at numerous local organizations in Delaware, Levine explained that they’ve had several illnesses in the family recently, and their family’s rescued pets have eased the family’s collective suffering tremendously. She and her daughter wanted to give back.

“The animals have been helping all of us as a family,” Levine said.

“I just love dogs — they keep me happy,” Rogison added.

Flying to Los Angles to attend Lint Roller wouldn’t be the only surprise Rogison would receive on her birthday. Of the several hundred people who entered the raffle to win an electric guitar signed by the Bangles, the ones holding the winning ticket were none other than the birthday girl and her mother.

From the card table to the Hollywood Palladium

Perhaps no one at this year’s Lint Roller embodied the spirit and history of the Palladium event as much as Jean Mathison, who had been at this same theater some 60 years ago dancing to Tommy Dorsey’s music.

“I found Silva in front of a West Hollywood market in 1991,” Mathison reminisced during the founder’s pre-party reception. “She was sitting behind a card table with a little mutt. I saw that dog and went right up to Silva immediately.”

Mathison began helping the Battistas raise money for the sanctuary. She organized bake sales, rummage sales, and anything else she could think of.

“We would raise money any way we could,” Mathison said. “And now look where we are. …What [the founders] have done is miraculous. It takes a lot of dedication, hard work, loving and caring to do what they’ve done.”

But as Oreck points out, this year’s Lint Roller party was more than just a celebration of the past, of how far Best Friends has come, but of how far it has to go.

“The anniversary celebration wasn’t just about looking backwards, but also of looking forward in anticipation of what the next 25 years will bring,” she says. “I think people [at the party] were inspired not just about the work we’ve done, but about the work we’ll continue to do in the future.”

For more information about Best Friends’ work in Los Angeles, become a fan of the L.A. Programs group on the Network.

As part of Best Friends’ 25th anniversary in 2009, our goal is to double our membership, so we can double our efforts to bring about a time when all companion animals have a forever home. What can you do to help? Give the Gift of a Best Friends membership to family and friends.

Photos by Molly Wald, Best Friends photographer, and  Andy Sheng, Best Friends volunteer.