YES seeks local funding

Deirdre Newman

Youth Employment Service is asking the community it serves to

increase its financial support.

It invited top community leaders to a luncheon on Wednesday to

raise awareness of its effort to find jobs for youths aged 14 to 22.

Over the past two years, government funding for Youth Employment

Service has dried up, leaving the organization’s financial condition

murky at the beginning of each year, Director Lynne Graham said. So

it is turning to the community for help.

“It’s something we really need to do because now we’re talking

turkey,” Graham said. “It’s not philosophical anymore. [Youth

Employment Service] really needs financial support.”

Almost 50 people attended the luncheon, which also feted heiress

Joan Irvine Smith, who will be honored at the organization’s annual

Roman Feast fundraiser in May. Event Coordinator Christine Carr said

she chose Smith because she personifies the mission of Youth

Employment Service. Irvine Smith’s contributions include the Irvine

Museum and the National Water Research Institute.

“She’s giving the promise to youth of a better tomorrow,” Carr

said.

Youth Employment Service was founded in 1969 by volunteers. It

serves about 1,200 youth, mostly on a walk-in basis. The small staff

offers tips on things such as interviewing and resume writing, and it

links job seekers with employers. Computers, fax machines and

Internet service are available to job seekers, as well.

“I think what they do is terrific,” Irvine Smith said. “I think

it’s a wonderful, necessary program.”

Helping youth find work is a way to endow them with qualities they

can use, said David Calderon, president of the organization’s board

of directors.

“Getting people jobs is a way of building self-esteem and

confidence in our youth -- they seem to lack both, in some cases,”

Calderon said.

The outreach effort is paying off, as many who weren’t familiar

with the organization expressed their admiration for it Wednesday.

“I’m very impressed,” said Bob Dees, vice president of instruction

at Orange Coast College. “I didn’t know much about it. Ideally, I’d

like to see a connection between us and them because we are serving

the same people.”