Anti-Graffiti Group Is Making Its MARC

Once a month, a handful of volunteers with an anti-crime group meet at a Northridge church to train community members on tactics for fighting graffiti.

“The biggest compliment I get is there isn’t any graffiti in the west San Fernando Valley anymore,” said John Scott, co-chairman of the MARC-Out Graffiti program. “There is, but it is being taken down.”

The group is a program run by Mad About Rising Crime, or MARC, which was created in 1991 by the parents of a teenage murder victim to raise awareness about crime and encourage residents to become involved in the safety of their community. Scott joined in 1993 after his 15-year-old son was robbed a block from their Northridge home.

“I took the rage and turned it around and started getting involved,” said Scott, who helped develop the MARC-Out Graffiti program to train others in graffiti removal four years ago.

“We’re trying to educate people on how to do it properly,” Scott said. For example, in addition to showing volunteers when and how to use a sandblaster, the group will explain strategies in matching paints.

“This is just another community effort that caught my eye,” said Linda Chantland of Reseda, one of about 10 volunteers who joined MARC for a three-hour graffiti-cleanup shift. The group meets at 9 a.m. the first Saturday of each month at Northridge United Methodist Church, 9650 Reseda Blvd.

“I’ve actually been fed up with [graffiti] for a long time,” said Chantland, who has also been a volunteer with Operation Sparkle, a city-run cleanup program.

For Donna Chu, a 14-year-old freshman at Chaminade College Preparatory in West Hills, the cleanup was an eye-opening experience.

“They painted graffiti in places where I didn’t think they’d hit,” said Donna, who was joined by her mother, Patsy. “It was tiring, but fun,” Donna said.

To reach MARC, call (818) 368-1112.