Salvation Army Week Features Fund-Raisers

Intervention to steer at-risk youth away from drug use and gang activity is being financially supported in Orange County by a series of events marking Salvation Army Week.

Among the fund-raisers scheduled by the Salvation Army’s local chapter are a civic awards dinner today in Anaheim. A golf tournament was held earlier this week at Coto de Caza.

Proceeds will help send about 300 local children, ages 7 to 12, to a weeklong summer camp in Malibu Canyon. Also supported will be youth day camps planned for Anaheim, Santa Ana and Tustin this summer, and ongoing tutoring and recreational programs at Salvation Army centers.

The philanthropic and religious organization, founded 131 years ago in England, is best known for its uniformed bell ringers, collection trucks, and work with recovering alcoholics and drug addicts, according to Capt. Lee R. Lescano, the Salvation Army’s Orange County coordinator.

But Lescano said services range from programs designed for young children to ones for senior citizens. In Orange County, he said, a special emphasis is placed on addressing problems of poverty, homelessness and teen crime.

Youth activities, Lescano said, “are aimed at getting the younger kids before they get into trouble. We want to have them here instead of on the streets.”

Looking ahead to the 1996-97 fiscal year, Lescano said the Salvation Army will attempt to raise about $200,000 to $300,000 to make additional improvements at its Anaheim Red Shield Youth Center, which opened in March.

The Salvation Army also intends to move ahead with plans for opening a women’s rehabilitation center for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts in 1998, Lescano said.

For information on the awards dinner: (714) 832-7100.