Every year more than 300,000 children becomes victims of these sex traffickers.  

In 2013, Homeless count, LA Homeless Authority (LAHSA) found a 121.9% increase since 2013 in unaccompanied homeless youth.  There are over 5,000 homeless youth in Los Angeles County alone and LAHSA reports 88% of homeless youth as unsheltered each night.  About 80-90% of victims of sex trafficking have been sexually abused by parents, family members, neighbors and friends.

The pimp see’s these children and because of their condition or situation, lure them into prostitution.  Nothing is being done to the pimps.  They get caught, they do their time and when they come out, they continue their business again.

For more information, please contact Robert Ryans at www.gem.girls.org

Tom Harris won the raffle

 

Meeting ended at 1:15 P.M..

 

Saturday, May 14, we have another chance to make pillowcases for the Foster Children’s Resource Center.  We also have a bunch of T-Shirts that have been donated to our group by Rotary district 5280 that were left after the District Fund-raiser to raise funds for polio.  We have been offered the chance to work at Patches- just south of Lassen on Mason Avenue - from 10:00 to 1:00 sewing the pillowcases.  We are asked to donate $12.00 for the materials for two pillowcases. 

District 5280 has a District Assembly that day, May 14^th, in Carson where they offer training for incoming officers.  Next year we need to plan ahead for that meeting and to send people to get information.

May 16: The club voted to join the Santa Susana Mountain Park Association for their Monday night meeting at 7:00 at the Rockpoint Clubhouse The program is about the History of Chatsworth.  Arch Knight and Ray Vincent are combining their talents to present prehistoric times up to the present.

May 28 the Foundation for the preservation of the Santa Susana Mountains has a second clean-up day where they will be removing a section of old fencing and replacing it with a wooden fence similar to the fencing on the entrance to the park on Andorra Street.  The work project is at the Lilac Street entrance where the project Bob reported on at this meeting and work begins about 8:30 and will last to about noon.

June 12 is the Day of the COLT.  Fleet Street will provide bicycle repair and anyone that can volunteer to work with Kris that morning is welcome.  Riders and runners will be following the rout of the Orange Line south and circling back to Chatsworth.  At about 11-6 the Art Walk will be held by the Shops at the West End (of Devonshire).  Our club is working with the group to help with the Art Walk, and we are purchasing “Rotary Fans” to sell for $1.00 as it may be a hot day, and at noon the Chamber will be sponsoring the “Taste of Chatsworth” booths where for $20.00 tickets purchased in advance on-line, people can enjoy all sorts of good food.

PROGRAM:

Bob Dager told us about the work that was done last week by volunteers who celebrated Earth Day at Lilac Lane entrance to the Santa Susana State Historic Park.  The FPSSMP had received a grant from the California State Park Foundation of $4,300.00 to clean-up and renovate parts of the park.  31 volunteers, many of them high school youth, showed up to work.  The fencing had not come, but lots of other projects were planned.  A new picnic table donated by the family of Diane Dixon-Davis and a new kiosk were placed.  Star thistle is a bad “invasive species” that kills cows or horses that eat it, and John Luker led a group that cleared 1.2 acres that had been badly invested with that plant.

On Saturday, May 28^th, volunteers will again be gathering to remove the old fence and install the nice wooden fence that has been purchased with funds from the grant.  One of the nice things that the volunteers saw was a nice pond of water that had collected from our spring rains and it is near that upper entrance of the park.