In a round of applause for AIDS Action Committee volunteers, local celebrities including Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart went to work yesterday assembling care packages for AIDS patients.

Mayor Thomas Menino declared yesterday "AIDS Action Committee Volunteer Recognition Day" in recognition of the men and women who dedicate time and service to the organization.

Radio talk show host Marjorie Clapprood, FOX News anchor Tory Ryden and New England Cable Television anchor Dan Harris were also on hand at AIDS Action Committee headquarters downtown, filling plastic bags with personal items for people with AIDS who can't afford to pay for them.

"It's a cause very close to my heart," Lockhart said. As part of the artistic community, Lockhart said he has seen the syndrome's destruction first hand. "Most of us artists have lost several friends to AIDS, so I'm glad to do things like this, even when there aren't cameras around."

About 1,500 volunteers worked more than 121,000 hours for AIDS Action last year, but chairman Gary Bailey said that still isn't enough.

"We're at a time in the commonwealth and the nation when 98 percent of the giving is being done by 2 percent of the population," Bailey said.

Larry Kessler, AIDS Action Committee executive director, used the occasion to criticize President Clinton's refusal on Monday to allocate federal money for needle exchange programs, saying the president should be more receptive to AIDS issues.

"I would like to drag President Clinton and [Secretary of Health and Human Services] Donna Shalala here and show them," Kessler said. "Needle exchanges slow the epidemic. But it takes courage and a lot of balls, and that's not the situation in Washington."

Boston has had a needle exchange program since 1987.

When Kessler founded AIDS Action 15 years ago, he had three clients. Now the group works with almost 2,000 AIDS patients, delivering meals, providing transportation, working hotlines and organizing fundraisers.

Betty Byrnes first came to the committee to use its library after her son was diagnosed with AIDS.

"I knew nothing about AIDS," Byrnes said. "It was a word, a disease. But the people here were wonderful, very receptive to me."

Her son died in 1994, but Byrnes continued to work in the office with patients and their families.

"Working here is a way to keep his memory alive for me," Byrnes said. "I don't ever want him to be forgotten."