Pacoima : Realtors Donate to LAPD Youth Program

Trying to make a difference in their community, an organization of San Fernando Valley realtors will donate $21,000 to a Los Angeles Police Department anti-gang program today.

Representatives of the 6,800-member San Fernando Valley Assn. of Realtors will present a check for that amount during a news conference at the Foothill Youth Center in Pacoima.

The funds will benefit the LAPD’s Jeopardy program, an intervention effort that provides recreational and occupational opportunities for children at risk for joining gangs.

The program offers counseling, job placement, computer training and activities such as hockey, boxing and dancing.

David R. Walker, a spokesman for the realtors, said the group chose the Jeopardy program to fulfill “a desire to play a role in the community.”

In the early 1990s, the organization formed a nonprofit foundation to make contributions to charitable causes in the Valley, said Public Affairs Director Millie Jones. She said that although members had given time and money to Jeopardy in the past, the donation today is the group’s largest contribution.

“It’s important for realtors to maintain good communities,” she said. “One of the ways to do it is to start with our youth.”

Jones said that the LAPD will use the funds to purchase computers and a software package for Jeopardy at each of its five Valley divisions.

“We wanted to make sure . . . our contribution benefited the entire San Fernando Valley,” she said.

The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. at 11844 Glenoaks Blvd.