Scout’s Good Deed: Project Nets 4,000 Books to Aid Teacher Center

Gregory Urfrig is just a sophomore in high school, but he has already learned the value of volunteering in the community.

For the last month, the dedicated teen-ager has been hard at work organizing a book drive to benefit the Los Angeles Teacher Center in Westchester, a federally funded facility that serves educators throughout the city.

“I found out about the center from a friend,” the 16-year-old Los Angeles resident said. “I thought it was great and would also (be a way) to help people learn to read.”

A member of Brentwood Boy Scout Troop 26, Urfrig was required to lead a service project in order to earn the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout, the top award given by the Boy Scouts of America.

From the beginning, Urfrig was eager to get started on the project.

“I made up a bunch of flyers and distributed them to the Boy Scouts in my troop,” he said. “There’s a lot more work involved than people think because you have to organize and count the books and (keep) track of everyone’s service hours.”

With Urfrig’s leadership, Scouts met once a week to gather and deliver a variety of new and used books, which ranged from adult novels to art and children’s books. And the response to the project was more than they had expected. Originally, the goal was to collect 2,500 books, but the final count was nearly 4,000 books.

The Harvard-Westlake student hopes he can set an example for others to follow.

“It’s a good thing to do with your time instead of being a washout,” he said. “But if you aren’t motivated, it won’t work.”

Urfrig will write a report on his experiences and submit it to Boy Scout leaders next month. He hopes to receive the Eagle Scout award at a ceremony later this year.

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Six UCLA faculty members received Fulbright Awards to fund research and teaching abroad during the 1992-93 academic year.

The recipients are Joseph Almog, Christine Borgman, Walter Goldschmidt, Richard Green, Ronald Kelley and Beverly Lynch.

The Fulbright Awards are granted by the Washington-based Council for International Exchange of Scholars.

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Azadeh Farin is one of 1,000 finalists in the Jostens Foundation Leader Scholarship Program.

Chosen from more than 37,000 applicants from throughout the United States, Farin is a senior at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles.

Scholarship winners will be announced in April.

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Board of Supervisors Chairman Ed Edelman has named two Westside residents to Los Angeles County planning commissions.

Pacific Palisades resident Richard Wulliger has been reappointed to the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission. An attorney in private practice, he is active in the Sierra Club, the Malibu Trails Assn. and Mountains Conservancy fund.

Michael Sausser, a resident of West Hollywood, has been appointed to the Countywide Citizens Planning Council. Sausser, who holds degrees in urban planning and political science from UCLA, works for the political consultant firm Afriat/Blackstone Consultancy in Los Angeles.

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The Center for the Partially Sighted will honor Gordon Stulberg, chairman and chief executive officer of Philips Interactive Media of America and chairman of Philips Interactive Media International.

Stulberg, selected for his contributions to the entertainment industry and community, will be honored at a dinner June 12 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.

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