ANGEL IN OUR MIDST TEEN STARTS HER OWN CHARITY.

Byline: RICK COCA Valley News Writer

After completing school- required community service by participating in AIDS Walk L.A., Harvard- Westlake High School student Remy Greeno felt like she merely did what was required of her and not much else.

``I realized that I wanted to make the time to really get involved,'' Greeno said. ``I was kind of disappointed in myself and wanted to expand my involvement in community service.''

Greeno, a Hancock Park resident, knew that at her North Hollywood campus, students often viewed the graduation- required community service as simply an obligation.

With the idea of getting more of her Harvard-Westlake classmates directly involved in charitable work, Greeno, then 15, started Teenangels LA, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds for small, struggling charitable organizations that help under-served youth.

Greeno said it was important for her to create a meaningful exchange between her schoolmates from Harvard- Westlake, a private school with an annual tuition of about $23,000, and other kids from less-affluent backgrounds.

``I wanted (Harvard-Westlake students to) meet other kids who don't have the same opportunities and haven't been given the gifts they have had in life,'' Greeno said.

Greeno, now a 17-year-old senior who's headed to Princeton University in the fall, said the response from her classmates has been tremendous.

Since its founding less than three years ago, Teenangels LA has raised $25,000 for charities such as The Unusual Suspects, a group that brings theater arts to minors in the juvenile justice system and foster kids; Teen Impact, which assists young people with cancer; and an orphanage in Mississippi.

At Camp David Gonzalez, a juvenile detention center in Calabasas, Greeno saw firsthand how perceptions can change on all sides. The Unusual Suspects was working on a play with juvenile offenders in the facility. She said there were racial tensions between some of the black and Latino participants, as well as conflict between members of rival gangs. But during the 12 weeks they worked on the play, there was a change in their attitudes.

``They learned their lines and they performed with such conviction, they were really proud of themselves,'' Greeno said. ``(It) established a sense of self-esteem and pride in themselves. That they can accomplish something. They haven't failed yet. They are not doomed to a life of crime.''

For Greeno and her Teenangels L.A. peers, seeing the change in the play's participants was a learning experience for them as well.

``Kids don't expect other kids in a probation camp to change at all,'' Greeno said.

Other kids will take over Teenangels L.A. at Harvard- Westlake when Greeno departs for Princeton. The charity is now on the school's list of approved nonprofit organizations students can work with to meet their graduation requirement. And with Greeno and her graduating angels planning on starting new Teenangels chapters at Princeton and other colleges, it's clear that they and their classmates at Harvard-Westlake are light years past seeing community service as merely an obligation.

For information on Teenangels LA, go to www.teenangelsla.com.

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Remy Greeno of Teenangels LA.