After the Riots / NEWS IN BRIEF : $1-Million Gift From Mattel Will Fund Learning Centers
Mattel Inc. said its Mattel Foundation will provide $1 million to establish “learning centers” for local children and adults--facilities that will offer day care, educational programs and instruction in English and computer literacy.
The El Segundo-based toy maker said the foundation will establish five learning centers over the next three years. There will be instruction for preschoolers, after-school programs for elementary school children and tutoring for high school students, along with classes for adults.
“The riots underscored our responsibility to help improve the lives of people living in Los Angeles,” Mattel Chairman John W. Amerman said Wednesday. “We want to give something back to the community.” Mattel’s first learning center will open July 28 at the Paradise Open Market project at 52nd Street and Broadway, a temporary marketplace for merchants displaced by the riots.
Mattel will open two other schools late this summer in South-Central Los Angeles and in East Los Angeles. Two other centers will be opened next year.
Collectively, the centers will have the capacity to serve 5,000 people, Mattel said.
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