LAFAYETTE PARK : Youths Treat Elderly to Mother’s Day Meal

Longtime Lafayette Park resident Juanita Cortez doesn’t mind walking to do her errands, but she recalls a time when she didn’t have to do as much of it.

“I remember when you could take the trolley, on 7th Street I think it was, for 5 cents,” said Cortez, 74. “Back then I used to live near the (now-closed) Ambassador Hotel. That’s where Bobby Kennedy was shot, you know.”

Cortez offered her impromptu history lesson on the 1968 assassination at last week’s sixth annual Young and the Wise Mothers’ Day breakfast in the park. Nearly 300 senior citizens found plenty of pancakes and eggs, music and conversation.

“There are a lot of seniors living in the area and they look forward to coming out every year,” said Urla Price, vice president of the Wilshire Center Community Involvement Assn., which, along with the Wilshire Chamber of Commerce and the Rampart and Wilshire divisions of the Los Angeles Police Department, hosted the event. Serving the breakfast were youths from the YWCA, the Bresee Foundation and the Wilshire and Rampart Explorers, a volunteer group sponsored by the police department.

“We like to think of it as a chance for the young people to serve the wise,” said Sgt. Ron Moen of the Rampart Division. “The senior citizens helped build this country, but they get forgotten sometimes, so we should extend our thanks to them for what they’ve done.”

The event is also an opportunity for young people to hear a different perspective on current problems, said Peter Harkins, president of the community involvement association. “The seniors who remember the Great Depression or World War II can say, ‘We’ve been through it and we’ll get through this.’ It provides a certain stability,” Harkins said.

Thinking back to more prosperous times, Cortez touched on a common problem facing the city’s youth today. “I remember when they used to have men teaching young people how to play ball here at the park, but they don’t have that anymore,” she said.

Rampart Division Capt. Gregory Berg said a lack of local youth recreation programs means that many young people have few alternatives to hanging out on the streets. But programs such as those offered by the YWCA, the Bresee Foundation and the Explorers get youths in with “the right crowd,” Berg said.

Explorer Carlos Rodriguez, 19, called the breakfast “a real nice way of helping out. They (the senior citizens) talk about their lives and we talk about ours. They get to like you.”

Among the young volunteers, Patricia Pimentel of the YWCA said she enjoys events such as this one and at hospitals.

“They’re very sweet,” Pimentel said of the senior citizens. “And it’s a good chance to learn about waitressing and patience.”

This year the organizers also invited members of the Korean Senior Citizens Assn. Several women from the group wore their hanbok , a traditional Korean dress. “They invited us so we wanted to look nice,” said Soon Ok Lee.