AIDS Ride organizer closes its doors

Pallotta TeamWorks, a for-profit company that organizes charity events for AIDS- and breast cancer-related causes, has shut its doors and laid off its more than 250 employees, a former spokeswoman said Saturday.

According to Jana Sidley, who was among those laid off on Friday, TeamWorks still intends to hold three breast cancer walks scheduled for October in Atlanta, Los Angeles, and New York. The company has held 10 other such walks so far this year, netting $43 million.

Sidley said company founder Dan Pallotta told employees that the decision to close its doors was intended to save money and ensure that the October walks could go on as planned. The company may seek to rehire some of those laid off. "We were furloughed," Sidley said. "Their intention is to continue the season and bring us back."

Pallotta TeamWorks has been sharply criticized by some who allege that it has overspent on marketing, administration, and logistics, cutting into what it contributes to charity. The company defends the falloff in donations, saying some events drew a smaller number of participants. The events cost the same to produce regardless of how many people take part, the company has said.

Since 1994, Pallotta TeamWorks has raised more than $222 million for AIDS- and breast cancer-related causes.