Teens Raising Funds to Attend Conference

El Centro de Amistad, a San Fernando social service agency dedicated to steering kids away from drugs and gangs, has been selected to represent the San Fernando Valley at a national youth congress next month in Illinois.

Representatives from El Centro de Amistad, including two Valley high school students who are veterans of the agency’s programs, will attend the “Creando Caminos de Esperanza” (“Creating Pathways of Hope”) in Chicago Aug. 8 to 11--if they can raise the $3,600 needed to pay for the trip.

Almost $2,400 has already been raised through a rummage sale, a fund-raising event at the Americana 5 Cinemas in Panorama City and by selling snow cones at the San Fernando Fiesta but, with the deadline approaching, program administrators are scrambling to come up with the rest.

Adrian Prieto, 17, of Sylmar, a senior this fall at Kennedy High School in Granada Hills, and Emerald Mejia, 14, of San Fernando, who will be a freshman at Sylmar High, were selected to accompany the executive director and two counselors to the congress sponsored by the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry at Loyola University of Chicago in recognition of the positive changes they have made in their lives since joining the agency’s counseling and tutoring programs, according to Nora Villela, an El Centro de Amistad counselor.

“They told me I need to give a speech so I’m nervous about that but I’m also really excited,” said Mejia, whose mother enrolled her in Amistad’s programs three years ago when she was failing basic math. Mejia, who earned an “A” in algebra last semester, now tutors other kids in math and reading. Mejia said she plans to attend college and someday hopes to be a doctor or a teacher.

Anyone interested in contributing to the cost of the trip or finding out more about El Centro de Amistad’s programs is encouraged to call (818) 898-0223. El Centro is at 568 S. Brand Blvd.