Struggling Youth Program Gets Grant

The financial problems of the West Valley-based softball program Keep Youth Doing Something (KYDS) will be held at bay for at least the next six months thanks to a $15,000 grant awarded to the nonprofit group from the Amateur Athletic Foundation, organizers said.

KYDS has been struggling financially for several months, after the $40,000 federal grant used to start the program two years ago ran out. The organization provides Friday night softball games, meals and field trips to about 250 children and teen-agers from Canoga Park, Reseda and, most recently, Pacoima, where a new KYDS chapter just began.

KYDS Executive Director Sandy Kievman said the money will be used mostly to pay her salary for the next six months. Kievman, former aide to then-City Councilwoman Joy Picus, has been running the program without pay since Picus left office in July.

The grant “takes the pressure off,” Kievman said. “I can concentrate on doing this full time now and not worry about paying my bills.”

Kievman said her top priority now is to apply for more grants to keep the program running. She said KYDS has about $20,000 in its coffers from the foundation grant and money from other donors.

The program is still not entirely secure, she said. For example, the new Pacoima chapter is short of equipment.

Keith Cruickshank, program director of the Amateur Athletic Foundation, said KYDS was awarded the grant because it serves “a tough group of kids to reach,” and because it enhances the reputation of city parks.

The foundation, which distributes Southern California’s youth share of profits from the 1984 Olympics, recently gave away a total of $191,887 to 22 sports programs in the region.