Mall to Reward 15 Schools With Checks

A Sherman Oaks mall plans to hand out checks today to 15 San Fernando Valley schools, chosen by shoppers in a contest conducted at the mall over the past six months.

Sandy Stavig Turner, marketing director for Fashion Square, said the mall did not want to simply donate the $9,500 it had earmarked for schools outright because it couldn’t choose one school over others. So they decided to let mall patrons make the choice.

A box was set up in the middle of the mall with slots for customers to deposit their receipts. Each slot was marked with the name of a school. Mall workers ascribed points to each school depending on how much the receipts in their slots showed was spent, Turner said.

The highest score went to Dixie Canyon Avenue Elementary in Sherman Oaks, which will receive a check for $2,000 at the awards ceremony this morning in the mall’s food court.

Other schools among the winners were Carpenter Avenue School in Studio City ($1,500), Riverside Drive School in Sherman Oaks ($1,000), Kester Avenue School in Van Nuys ($750) and Lanai Road School ($500) in Encino. The schools will use the money for parent-teacher associations, booster clubs, air conditioning and computers, Turner said.