Big Names Enlist in Salvation Army’s War : Fund Raising: Business leaders aid the group’s effort to build a $4.4-million shelter for runaway teen-agers.

Yes, the Salvation Army collects spare change outside the mall at Christmas time. But it takes a long time to raise $4.4 million in nickels and dimes, so when you want to build a refuge for teen-age runaways and local youths, you call out the band.

You send in Edward M. Carson, chairman of the board of First Interstate Bancorp, to beat the big bass drum, so to speak. And Lt. Col. David P. Riley passes the tambourine.

His shoes a shiny black, Riley wore his blue uniform with the red and white trim at Monday’s kickoff for a fund-raising drive to build the youth center on Hollywood Boulevard.

“People think these big red S ‘s stand for ‘super-salesman,’ ” he said.

That was a joke, but Carson warned that anyone who thinks of Riley, divisional commander of the venerable, military-style Christian organization, as anything less than a super-salesman, “is very naive.”

So far, institutions such as Carson’s bank, the California Youth Authority and private foundations have responded by tossing about $2.2 million into the Army’s collection bucket.

That money was raised by appeals from the staff. Now, a campaign cabinet headed by Carson will be marching as to war.

Members include Roy A. Anderson, chairman emeritus of Lockheed Corp., and prominent figures in the fields of law, accounting, real estate, banking and newspapers.

Their goal is to raise the rest of the money before the fund drive ends, in April, with a dinner featuring the unlikely trio of Billy Graham, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

Housed in a mobile home, the 5-year-old center, called The Way In, helps an average of 250 runaway and homeless teens a month. This is an increase of 218% in new cases since January, 1991. But there is nowhere for desperate youths to sleep.

With an estimated 10,000 homeless youths at large in Los Angeles County, many of them attracted to Hollywood by the ephemeral dream of stardom, the caseload could rise to more than 400 by the time a 13,000-square-foot, 20-bed shelter is built.

A second stage would include a separate building with a gymnasium and other facilities for local children, along the lines of the Army’s 42-year-old Red Shield Youth Center in the Pico-Union District.

Plans also call for federally funded housing for low-to-moderate-income seniors on the 1.7-acre site, which the Salvation Army bought in 1962.

Developed in the 1930s as an entertainment complex by the Times Mirror Co., publisher of The Times, the site is occupied by a parking lot and the Palm Gardens Grill, popular in the ‘30s and 40s but now abandoned.

The property also includes the old Hawaiian Theater, scene of Monday’s rally, which was converted to a Salvationist church in 1962.

According to figures compiled by social service agencies, the average age of Hollywood’s homeless teen-agers is 15. About one in four have problems with drugs or alcohol, 25% are chronic runaways, 37% have a history of abuse or neglect, and 48% have no home to return to.

“These children are angry for what happened to them and how they have to live,” said Joan Thirkettle, director of the center.

It is important, she said, that they be helped quickly. “After six or eight weeks, they become addicted to street life,” she said. “We need a shelter so we won’t have to send these young people back out on the streets.”

At The Way In, three regulars spoke highly of its services, which include help in finding food, a bed, medical care, work, schooling and a way back to some kind of home.

“It helps lots of kids on the street ‘cause it gives them a place to kick back,” said Dave Jones, originally of Norwalk.

Added Tammy Yardley, 17, of Salt Lake City: “They support me with major problems with my boyfriend and the stupid things he does.”

“I was on the street so bad, I was in the gutter,” said Vivian Chong, 16, who grew up in Hollywood. “I didn’t care about anything or anybody. I changed a lot since then. The Way In helped me to do that.”

Outside, a sign says: “Weapons must be checked in at desk . . . NO GUNS . . . Please try to refrain from drug/sex discussions.”