A rare dinner—with Robin Williams in mind—at Bentley House this Friday.

For many, the most compelling piece of Robin Williams' genius was his ability to completely transform.

He was an alien, a professor, a cross-gender housekeeper, even a genie.

He was similarly many things to many people: an inspiration, an improv legend, a kind soul, a conscious voice.

That made his tragic suicide this week all the more personal and painful.

But to a small but informed population, his sudden and soul-draining loss provides a unique opportunity to do something positive and powerful—namely, to lift the stigmas associated with mental illness so it might be better diagnosed and dealt with.

One in 10 Americans suffers from such illness, many of them severe and even more of them go undiagnosed.

Just this spring, Susan Stilwell of Pebble Beach decided she would do something about it. 

Her tight-knit family is behind one of only two family-owned hotels in Carmel, Tradewinds. 

"Mental illness has reached epidemic proportions among our country’s youth," she says. "Anxiety, depression, ADHD, bi-polar disorder, schizophrenia, etc. are more and more prevalent in children. Untreated mental illness, in turn, is the root cause of most other problems that affect our nation’s youth today, such as addictions, suicide, crime, and homelessness."

Nowhere was it more graphic than the UC Santa Barbara shooting/suicide. More tough news follows: 30,000 people kill themselves every day, and thousands more try and fail.

But that's the bad news.

The good news: She's started AIM for Mental Health, a program/campaign under the umbrella of the International Mental Health Research Organization, a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to mental health research and awareness.

Meanwhile, her kids have pioneered support programs at Carmel High.

AIM's inaugural benefit—which is nearly sold out—happens Friday, Aug. 15, at “The Home of Bentley” in Pebble Beach. (Contact 624-8525 or sstilwell@comcast.net for the last of 180 tickets.)

(Sidenote: Each year Bentley takes over a home next door to The Lodge at Pebble Beach with its swank cars, an exclusive line of furniture, and other attractions, including a private preview of the newest Bentley vehicles.)

The dinner will honor the founders of IMHRO, Garen and Shari Staglin, for their dedication to mental health research over many years. The donation is $500 per sea.

Aquaterra is doing the luxurious food spread. Georis and Staglin Vineyards are doing the wines and a deep and diverse lineup of live auction items have been assembled. 

The speakers will include Garen Staglin, who has appeared all over the news in the wake of Williams' suicide, including a potent segment with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC.

"If anything can come good of this, it's a call to action," he said. "The most important thing we can do is offer hope that with the research we're doing and advances and cures people are trying we will…get to the root causes."

Donations for AIM for Mental Health should be sent to AIM for Mental Health-IMHRO, P.O. Box 4235, Carmel, CA 93921.