GLENDALE : Calendars Benefit Youth Programs

Thousands of calendars being sold in Glendale may help teen-agers live better lives, as well as keep track of the date, under a program sponsored by the Glendale Galleria mall to help four Glendale-area youth charities.

“It’s critical,” said Linda Maxwell, co-founder of the We Care For Youth job training program. “We don’t have any funding sources at all.”

In October, the galleria gave at least 10,000 calendars to each of four charities. The 15-month calendars, which are being sold for $5, have dates of Glendale community events, important phone numbers and seasonal artwork.

“Everything we can do that creates income is valuable to us,” Maxwell said.

We Care For Youth helps teen-agers in improving self-esteem, setting goals and developing basic skills needed for jobs.

The calendar sales could raise as much as $50,000 for the program, which started in Glendale three years ago. That money could be used to buy a new laptop computer to allow weekend work and help finance jobs for some of the 1,500 kids the agency has been helping in the past three years.

“The fund-raising enables us to keep our equipment in good shape,” said Glendale Police Officer Rodney Brooks, the administrator overseeing the Glendale Youth Boxing program. “It also enables us to provide for the extra-curricular activities.”

Brooks said that the money for the calendar sales can help pay for trips to take the teen-agers to parks or to professional boxing matches.

The Glendale Youth Orchestra and the Roosevelt Junior High School Varsity Spirit program are also selling the calendars. Information: (818) 240-9481.