COVER STORY : The Dating Game With Heart : L.A.C.A.N. helps single people find companions and worthwhile causes.

Sally Maisel was browsing through a singles column in the newspaper when she saw an announcement for a get-acquainted meeting for L.A.C.A.N.

Maisel, 41, a single Van Nuys television game show writer, was looking for a way to do something for the community--”to work with illiteracy or older people,” she says--and to meet others with a social conscience.

She signed up right away at the orientation meeting and says the organization is exactly what many single people in the San Fernando Valley are looking for. While she didn’t join L.A.C.A.N. to expand her love life, Maisel says she did have an interest in widening her social circle. And it was through some of the friends she met in the organization, she says, that she got a few dates and developed some relationships.

L.A.C.A.N. (the “C.A.N.” stands for Community Action Network), was designed as an alternative to the traditional singles social scene in the Valley. Members--98% are single and about one-third live in the Valley--get a bimonthly newsletter that lists 60 to 100 community fund-raising and service events for which they can volunteer, ranging from a celebrity drug-free hero softball game at North Hollywood High School, to answering phones for the United Cerebral Palsy telethon at KCET in Hollywood, to staffing booths for the Chamber of Commerce business fair at Northridge Park.

The organization stands out from other fund-raising groups and charities because of its unusual percentage of singles. As a contrast, Becky Day, director of volunteer development for the Los Angeles-based organization Love Is Feeding Everyone, estimates that about 50% of the volunteers in her group are single. TreePeople estimates that only about one-third of its volunteers are unmarried.

L.A.C.A.N., which has 850 members, was founded in 1983 by John Scherrer, a retired Santa Monica Unified School District history and English teacher who was moved by television news footage of starving children in Ethiopia to create a volunteer corps for singles.

The organization--initially called Singles for Charity--is based in Santa Monica, but is trying to meet the needs of Valley members by holding alternating monthly meetings in Woodland Hills, Maisel says. The name was later changed to L.A.C.A.N. because the group thought the other name might mask its serious intentions.

Many members are attracted to the organization because it gives them the flexibility to volunteer when they can without making a regular commitment for a particular day or a consistent time frame. “L.A.C.A.N. fulfilled my desire to volunteer without tying me down,” Maisel says.

It’s also a nice way to meet people. “At least you know you have one thing in common--some sort of altruism--as a basis to start a discussion. You can always talk about other events you’ve done,” Maisel says. She also has found that the organization attracts people who work independently and are isolated in their careers--such as entrepreneurs or free-lancers--or who want to meet people outside work.

Michael Stenger, 46, president of L.A.C.A.N., says his experience in the singles scene was so frustrating that he first looked to the group six years ago as an antidote to the bar-hopping, get-a-date world that he hated. “You just don’t typically get into that many situations where it’s easy to meet people. Going to rock concerts and the smaller clubs, I just kept running into a lot of guys.

“The key to meeting people is to be in the right environment for it. The biggest challenge to living in the Los Angeles area is the isolation. There are few outlets for people of common mind and spirit,” he says.

At charity events, people tend to be in a positive mood, which makes introductions easy. “People meet not just L.A.C.A.N. members but other people working the event too,” he says.

Judy Morton, 45, met her boyfriend with the same last name, Bob Morton, 60, of Venice, at an L.A.C.A.N. get-acquainted meeting almost four years ago. Bob got up and gave her his seat, she says, and then they discovered they shared a name. “He was just very open, very nice,” Morton remembers.

The two started to car-pool to L.A.C.A.N. events. On their first time out, Bob and Judy joined two women, also L.A.C.A.N. members, on a drive to the Girls Club of Santa Monica’s fund-raising softball game at Pepperdine University in Malibu. They stopped for breakfast on the way. “L.A.C.A.N. gives you such an easy way to explore each other--your interests, what’s for real--without having to get too serious,” she says.

Judy Morton says she now considers herself pre-engaged. “If I were ever going to marry anyone, it would probably be Bob,” she says. Neither has ever married, so they are somewhat hesitant to tie the knot, she explains. But they still spend many evenings at L.A.C.A.N. events.

Bob Morton says that while he joined for the chance to do something for others, the opportunity to meet people was also a draw. Meeting Judy, he says, was an unexpected life-changing benefit.

Chuck Petithomme, 43, of Reseda joined the organization in 1985 and regularly runs the Bingo for Veterans program at the Wadsworth Veterans Administration Hospital in West Los Angeles. “I’m kind of shy, and I joined because it’s easier for me to meet people in this type of environment,” he says. “The events draw you out of yourself, so for a few hours you can forget about you. Every once in a while you get a boost to your self-esteem--the volunteering raises your confidence--and that helps you meet people too.”

Some of the members have made L.A.C.A.N. activities their social life, says Dana Bigman, who runs the group’s “fun-raisers.” Bigman joined the group four years ago when she was between relationships. “I’m not a bar person--and a lot of L.A.C.A.N. people aren’t. They’re social, socially conscious people,” she says.

One of the benefits of participating in a volunteer activity on behalf of the organization, Bigman says, is that volunteers don’t leave an event feeling frustrated if they don’t meet someone special. “Because you’ve contributed time to something worthwhile, you can still go home feeling it was a successful evening,” she says.

Says founder Scherrer: “At a singles party, you’re there to meet someone, so there’s always a disappointment if you don’t. You’re never disappointed leaving an L.A.C.A.N. event. Sometimes I’ve been so busy I’ve even forgotten I’ve met a beautiful woman.”

Even single parents can find activities that are suitable for them and for their children, says Shary Berens of La Crescenta. “Kids can help running errands or taking tickets at many of the events, which turn the events into a great opportunity for the family,” she says.

In addition to meeting people, volunteers become familiar with a wide range of charities, Bigman says. Some members volunteer for a particular organization outside of L.A.C.A.N. after seeing the group in action. Petithomme, for example, recently worked for a TreePeople event, pruning trees along Ventura Boulevard. Now he wants to become more active in that group, in addition to his work with L.A.C.A.N.

L.A.C.A.N.’s members have helped more than 250 charitable organizations with about 700 events, Stenger says.

Rosemary Harrell of North Hollywood, who co-chaired the Bruin Classic, a fund-raiser for the UCLA Intervention Program for Handicapped Children, says: “If it weren’t for L.A.C.A.N., we would not have been able to pull off our event. Last May, the event raised over $100,000,” supported by about 670 L.A.C.A.N. volunteers who helped with planning, sold auction tickets and supervised the auction items.

Linda Thieben, fund development director for the Marianne Frostig Center in Pasadena, says that without the L.A.C.A.N. volunteers, her fund-raising events would have failed. The special education school for children in kindergarten through high school raised about $60,000 last year through a flea market and a Disney event.

“With our students, frequently both parents work, so we need help from outside volunteers,” Thieben says. “L.A.C.A.N. is a bunch of really dedicated people who have helped a lot of charities. They are the most useful organization I have ever found.”

Two to three regular volunteers--and occasionally many more-- help the Valley Community Clinic plan and carry out its annual spring fund-raising event, says Arthur Haro, the clinic’s development coordinator. “It’s very helpful because these days it’s hard to get volunteers to come and help,” he says.

What is frustrating to Stenger, though, is that despite the wide-reaching support L.A.C.A.N. volunteers give to charities, it’s tough for the group to muster minimal financial backing for coordinating activities. Members are charged $20 a year to cover the cost of the newsletter, but a bigger office staff is needed to help seek out volunteer opportunities, maintain the mailing list and respond to questions and new members. The group now has a $15,000 annual budget and one part-time staff person, Stenger says.

Grant givers are not geared to donate funds to an organization such as L.A.C.A.N. because it is focused not on one specific cause but rather on providing people power for local nonprofit fund raising, she says.

“Because we’re one step removed when we apply for a grant, we’re always one step behind the direct-service providers,” Stenger says. “We are trying to achieve a stable base of support.”

Kaiser Permanente in Woodland Hills gave $2,000 to L.A.C.A.N. last year, says Pamela Spencer, area director of public affairs. “Kaiser contributed because L.A.C.A.N. supports everything we stand for, and is one of the only agencies that matches volunteers to groups. It has an indispensable role in the community.”

Stenger is also excited about the value--and the potential--for L.A.C.A.N. “Any time you have 700 people interested in doing something positive, there’s a lot of potential there,” he says.

Volunteer Activities

L.A.C.A.N. mails members a bimonthly newsletter that lists the volunteer activities for upcoming months. Volunteers call a contact number for more information or to sign up to work. A sampling of upcoming activities: Nissan L.A. Open Golf: Next Friday and Feb. 20 at the Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades. Sponsored by L.A. Junior Chamber of Commerce. Need help setting up, decorating. Flea Market: Feb. 27-28 in Pasadena. Sponsored by Frostig Center for Educational Therapy. Need cashiers, people to sell clothes. TreePeople: March 7 at TreePeople in Beverly Hills. Volunteers will be trained in preparation for future tree-planting and -caring trips. Love is Feeding Everyone: March 13 in the San Fernando Valley. Need people to help collect food for needy in supermarket food drive. Run to Save Children 5K: March 21 in Griffith Park. Sponsored by Buenanueva. Need help with registration, finish line. Los Angeles Food Bank: March 27 in Los Angeles. Need help sorting and packing food for distribution to the needy.