Mayor Has Charity Work Down Cold

A trio of Los Angeles Police Department youth programs may soon be bolstered by a substantial donation from an unnamed foundation, Mayor Richard Riordan said Sunday as he donned a hockey uniform to help raise funds for one of the programs.

The mayor was at the Iceoplex to take part in a game pitting cops against celebrities to raise funds for the LAPD’s Jeopardy anti-gang effort.

The other two LAPD programs that will reap the benefit of the donation, if it comes through, are the Explorers, a scouting program for youths interested in law enforcement careers, and Police Activity League Supporters (PALS), which operates a youth center in Reseda among other activities.

Riordan declined to disclose details about the possible donation, but said one condition of the gift is that the programs be better coordinated. Currently, individual stations run them.

“There’s no centralized leadership,” the mayor said as he laced up his ice skates in the dressing room. “It’s up to each station.”

He said he expects to make a formal announcement about the donation in three months.

In the meantime, there was hockey to play and money to raise at the event through ticket sales, a silent auction of sports memorabilia and donations from individuals (the mayor pitched in $100) and corporate sponsors (Cablevision Industries of Chatsworth donated $6,000).

The evening event raised $9,000, which will go to the LAPD’s Foothill Division Jeopardy program.

“Whatever we can raise is wonderful,” said the LAPD’s Richard Stocks, head of the Foothill program. The funds will go toward ice hockey, in-line skating and figure skating activities, Stocks said, noting that it costs about $200 to outfit each youth for these sports.

Monica Avila came with her family to watch the game. With her 14-year-old son already involved in gangs, Avila, a Pacoima resident, got her 12-year-old son involved in the police program.

“It keeps him busy,” she said of her son Arthur, who is playing ice hockey through Jeopardy. Otherwise “he wants to be on the street.”

An opportunity to assist youth is what motivated former Los Angeles Kings player Dave Taylor to put on his ice skates Sunday.

Playing on the celebrity team, Taylor, who now works in the Kings’ front office, admitted he had not played the game in about a year.

Riordan, who took up ice skating two years ago at age 64 and plays hockey about once a month, performed with spirit if not much finesse. Struggling at one point to get his stick on the puck, the mayor, who had forgotten his shoulder pads, was mercilessly knocked to the ice by a member of the opposing team.

The resilient entrepreneur-politician got back up on his skates and played on, but in the end it was Taylor, actor Chad Lowe and the other members of the celeb team who won the day. They beat the LAPD/Sheriff’s team 11 to 9.