300 Youths Paint Over Graffiti at 6 Freeway Overpasses : Encino: Members of United Synagogue Youth, in town for a regional convention, take on the project as a community service.

Under a sweltering sun, more than 300 teen-agers spent Sunday armed with buckets of paint and rollers to rub out the aerosol signatures of graffiti vandals on six Encino freeway overpasses.

The painting crews--members of United Synagogue Youth, an international organization for Jewish teen-agers--came from seven western states to slather beige paint over graffiti--and often over each other.

“It’s a lot of fun. You get to come out and get dirty,” said Aaron Zakowski, 16, from Yorba Linda.

Some of the teen-agers were left spattered with paint after being attacked by their comrades, but nonetheless happy that they had put a dent in Los Angeles’ largest vandalism problem--and even happier that the paint was water-based.

“The local police told us that one of the biggest problems in our area was graffiti by taggers. We hope we can take a chunk of it out,” said Stephanie McDonald, 16, of Canoga Park, one of the students who helped organize the painting detail.

After brainstorming late one night for new ways to help the community, she and two other Synagogue Youth members called the Los Angeles Police Department’s West Valley Division to find out about areas with a lot graffiti.

Officers escorted school buses filled with the students from Temple Ner Maarav in Encino--where the students are staying--to various overpasses of the Ventura Freeway.

The teen-agers were in town this weekend for Synagogue Youth’s regional convention, where the students take part in educational and religious programs, socialize and perform a community service.

The service is called SATO--Social Action Tikun-Olam, Hebrew for “repairing the world.” The group has also conducted food and clothing drives, collected emergency products for Red Cross earthquake relief and raised money for AIDS research.

“All the things we do are oriented to the important things in society right now,” said Gabi Chojkier, a 16-year-old from San Diego.

As 50 of the youths cleaned up an overpass near Killion Street, motorists driving by on the Ventura Freeway honked horns and waved. An hour and 18 gallons of paint later their work was done.

“This is my community and I want to better it. This is definitely something to do,” said Julia Zuckerman, 15, from Sherman Oaks.