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# What a PAL! Donors eat up chance to help students
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/what-a-pal-donors-eat-up-chance-to-help-students/
- Published: 2005-04-27T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T06:47:57.000Z
- Author: Ryan Hyatt
- Tags: Education, Mid-City, #archive-import

*Drug money forfeitures used to help finance PAL program*

MID-CITY — Thousands of dollars were raised this month to help local students stay off the streets.

Dubbed “Chez PAL,” a dinner was held at Back on Broadway restaurant and was served by dozens of kids who are part of the Santa Monica Police Activities League. Officials said $5,000 was raised for the organization — the most yet in the three years the event has been held.

Fred Deni, owner of Back on Broadway, donated his restaurant, his staff and enough food to feed the 120 people who turned out for the event on April 15.

While much of the funding for PAL comes through community support like Deni’s, the organization’s beginnings were partially funded through drug money taken off the streets by local police.

PAL is a citywide program for kids, according to Patty Loggins- Tazi, who helps coordinate the program. It offers free educational, cultural and athletic activities for boys and girls ages 6 to 17\. The purpose of the program is to foster positive relationships between youth, the community and police, who staff the center and volunteer as coaches and instructors.

PAL is in operation year-round, offering many programs and special events, such as dances, fishing trips, family picnics and holiday parties.

Santa Monica’s PAL is designed to keep kids off the street and provide them with enough activities to keep them busy and out of trouble. Coaches and instructors in the PAL program come from the SMPD and City Hall’s cultural services department, said Loggins-Tazi.

Diego Godinez, a Samohi senior once considered to be an “at-risk” youth — like many PAL participants — has been accepted to San Francisco State University. He plans on pursuing a career in child development.

“I want to help other kids,” Godinez said. Monique Gutierrez, 13, said she likes PAL because it is a safe place to go after school.

“I like there’s a place to go after school to hang out with friends,” Gutierrez said. “There’s a lot to do, also.”

Jivanto Van Hemert, 12, said he has been participating in PAL since he was 6 years old.

“I like the field trips we take,” Van Hemert said. “We’ve been to Six Flags, Wild River, up to Big Bear snowboarding. I also like the field trips we have taken to learn about science and history. We’ve taken a camping trip. I’m at PAL a lot of the time, after school and on the weekends.”

Van Hemert said he is a part of the Youth Directors Council, a group of youngsters who help choose PAL activities while taking courses on leadership and providing community service.

Many of the kids who worked during Chez PAL sit on the organization’s youth district council, which is made up mostly of teenagers. The council helps make decisions on PAL events and programs. The teens are heavily involved in community service — they are asked to commit to eight hours, but many of them put in between 16 and 24 hours a week, Loggins-Tazi said. “The YDC is probably the most exciting aspect of our program,” said Loggins-Tazi. “Right now, they are going around and trying to get businesses to use light bulbs that are better for the environment, which is pretty neat.

“The money will also be used to give away scholarships in June to nine YDC candidates,” Loggins-Tazi.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars were funneled into PAL in the late 1980s and early 1990s from asset forfeitures relating to drug crimes. At the time, there was a lot of drug activity in Santa Monica, officials said.

As a result, money from the assets seized by police went directly into the PAL program, including helping to pay for the Youth Center facility on Olympic Boulevard and 14th Street, as well as the boxing ring at Virginia Avenue Park, officials said.

Santa Monica PAL was able to grow quickly and become one of the largest in Southern California. Some PALs that aren’t as well funded operate out of trailers while others even operate out of the backs of cars.

Santa Monica PAL first started in 1989 at Virginia Avenue Park with a goal to reach out to 100 kids in the neighborhood. It quickly grew into several hundred kids and outgrew its small facility in a matter of a few years.

Santa Monica Police Chief James Butts, Jr., said the PAL program has about 200 students who regularly participate in the PAL program, and there is room for more.

“It’s really simple to enroll,” Butts said. “All you have to do is show some proof you are a Santa Monica resident, fill out an application, and your kids can join.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 27, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042705.pdf?ref=smdp.com)