You Can Find It in Your Own Back Yard

The good news about this garden party is that no one will force you to play croquet, wear white or sip watery iced tea.

In fact, if you show up in a ripped and soiled T-shirt, cutoffs and flip-flops and spill soda on yourself, the hosts at Haven Hills won’t mind.

Why would they care? You’ll be in your own back yard.

Haven Hills, the only San Fernando Valley shelter for battered women and their children, is sending out invitations to a Phantom Garden Party complete with a packet of seeds and an RSVP card that states: “* Yes, count me in. I will be delighted NOT to come.”

As part of the fund-raising non-party, invitees can send in their RSVP card with savings on a traffic ticket, $50; savings on gas, parking and miscellaneous expenses, $25; or savings on a dress or a new sports jacket, $150.

“As you plant your package of seeds, think of the shelter and services that Haven Hills provides to battered women and their children,” reads the mauve invitation, which carries a reminder to wear sunscreen and kneepads to your own garden party.

Fund-raising dinners and parties have become so expensive to put on that organizations either end up with little left from the donations or have to charge high ticket prices, the event’s organizers said.

But for this party, donors don’t have to commit to a long evening, “buy clothes, hire a baby-sitter or do any of this other stuff,” said Betty Fisher, director of the West Valley shelter.

Haven Hills has sent out 3,500 of the invitations and seed packets donated by local companies.

“If we were to raise $15,000, then I’d be real happy,” said Karyn Palmer, chairwoman of Haven Hills’ fund-raising committee.

Haven Hills, a private, nonprofit organization, has operated in the San Fernando Valley since 1977. It has sheltered more than 5,300 women and children victims of domestic violence. The organization also has a crisis phone line.

To donate, call (818) 887-7481.