Lucky Youth Club Members Get a Luau
Nearly 400 young participants in newly formed teen clubs based at local parks will be rewarded Friday night with a Hawaiian luau at Hansen Dam.
The youths have attended club meetings, done community service work and participated in community fund-raisers, earning attendance at the luau featuring Hawaiian food, entertainment by the 25-member Na Kapaku group, canoe races and a limbo contest, said Rich Gonzalez, principal recreation supervisor for the city of Los Angeles.
The 37 parks citywide that are part of the Class Parks Youth Plus program chose 10 youths each to attend the event.
The program by former Mayor Richard Riordan was started with $8.5 million earmarked to clean up 37 parks this year and establish clubs for youth ages 11 to 15.
“The idea was that kids wouldn’t want to go to a dirty old park,” Gonzalez said. “By cleaning it up, we’re hoping they would take back their own park.”
Gonzalez said funding has been secured to clean up 10 more parks, and Mayor James K. Hahn has asked for a proposal to improve another 10.
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