Star-studded “Celebration for Youth” to expand programs of Malibu’s teen
center.
By Vicky Newman
Special to the Malibu Times
On Saturday, the Malibu Foundation for Youth and Families will present a different picture of teens than the Memorial Day vandalism of Malibu High School.
Billed a “Celebration for Youth,” the Saturday evening $500-a-plate gala hosted by Malibuites Daniel Stern, Mel Gibson and David Foster will honor Malibu Youth of the Year, such as Holly Streetman, in order to expand the programs of the foundation’s Boys and Girls Club of Malibu Teen Center.
Streetman, a high school senior, is to receive the youth service award.
“The teen center is an absolute top priority,” said foundation President Laure Stern, who launched the foundation in the aftermath of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. “With cutbacks in school budgets, there are no after school activities for middle and high school students,” Stern says.
Located in two trailers on the upper campus of Malibu High School, the club features a learning center, a digital media workshop, a snack shop and a game room. Its programs focus on digital film production and music recording, computer training, substance abuse and premature sex prevention, academic and career counseling, service, recreational and sports opportunities.
Club membership, which costs $25 a year, has grown from 30 to 400 in the 18 months since the club opened its doors.
Parents and children love the center.
“It’s fun to go there,” said Alexa Galarze, 11, at the learning center filled with books, art supplies, board games and computers. “I do my homework there. Friends bring music videos and there are Friday afternoon movies.”
“The club is the perfect place for my son to be involved in after school,” said Lita Albuquerque of her son, Christopher Peck, 11.
Albuquerque, a leading female artist in the public arena, whose works appear in corporate headquarters around the world, designed the sculptural painting on the club’s donor wall. Titled “Star Child,” the cobalt blue pigment-etched glass silk screen shows a child in the middle of a cosmos surrounded by lines listing foundation benefactor names.
Stern, an activist for educational causes such as the 1998 school board initiative Proposition X, hopes Saturday’s fundraiser will support a summer sports-games-drama-and computer program, “Stay late Fridays,” and Saturday specialty arts workshops.
The foundation’s board, which includes Robyn Gibson, Daniel Stern, Juan Cabrillo Elementary School Principal Pat Cairns, businessman Bill Curtis and attorney Douglas Simpson, are dedicated to keeping membership at $25 a year, Stern said.
Although a $500 invitation to Saturday’s celebration is a bit pricey for most people to purchase, Stern encourages people to support the club in other ways.
A $25 donation will give a child a year’s membership, Stern said. Or people can donate their services, such as Bill Kane, of the Malibu Contractors Association, and chef Rich Tramonti have done. Kane helped build the center and Tramonti gave club members business skills by training them at the snack shop.
“The community is a resource for us and we are a resource for the community,” Stern said. “If we find a way to unify here, we can generate the best of what a community can do.”
More information on the June 15 Celebration for Youth can be obtained by calling 310.589.8363.