Fund-Raiser Planned for Youth Program

The congregation of Pacoima United Methodist Church established a mentoring program for fatherless children three years ago to provide positive role models and opportunities to see and do things the youths normally would not experience.

Children in the program have been given the chance to experience flying, sailing and hiking. But this year the retreats were on the verge of being called off for lack of money.

That’s when a sister Methodist church from Thousand Oaks learned about the situation and decided to get involved.

On Oct. 13, the United Methodist Church of Thousand Oaks will hold a barbecue fund-raiser with a goal of raising $5,000--enough to send 50 boys and girls enrolled in the Pacoima program to the camp-like retreats.

“It’s really a tragic thing when you grow up without a father,” said Larry Brown, a member of the Thousand Oaks congregation and one of the organizers of the fund-raiser. Brown, whose own father died when he was a baby, said he understood the difficulties faced by the children.

“I was fortunate, I got tremendous love from aunts and uncles. But it’s still not the same thing as having a father,” Brown said.

It was after a guest sermon at Thousand Oaks United by Garth Gilliam, one of the creators of the Pacoima mentoring program, that the two churches decided to work together.

“There are some really good people out there and it has been a wonderful thing, all of us working together,” said LaVerne Lovelace, project coordinator at Pacoima United.

Lovelace said if the goal set by the Thousand Oaks congregation is reached, it would be enough to send all of the eligible children in the program to retreats this year.

“The mentoring program is very important and we want to do what ever we can to help them out,” Brown said. “We hope our event will be a big success.”