BOY CARES FOR FOLKS LEFT ALONE IN WORLD.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

A retired schoolteacher calls and says I should check out a little boy named Max who lives on her block. The kid's going places, she swears. She's seen enough kids in her life to know.

She's been watching him for a couple of years, she tells me. He makes the rounds of their Sherman Oaks neighborhood, stopping in to see people who need seeing.

``At his age, 7, kids don't necessarily always have a giving spirit, especially for older people,'' she says. ``Max is different.

``The lady down the street is a shut-in. She had a heart attack and is in a wheelchair now. Max makes her cards to cheer her up, then stops by to visit her and play some bingo with her.

``He's always taking the time to stop and talk to the older people in the neighborhood. He's got that little spark the special ones always have. He's going places.''

The retired schoolteacher doesn't want to give her name because this is about Max, she says, not her. She'd rather just remain anonymous, walk her dog around the neighborhood in peace and enjoy a smile every time she looks up and sees the kid walking her way.

``If you want to meet him, stop by the Department of Children and Families Services office in North Hollywood Wednesday morning,'' the retired teacher says. ``They're honoring him.''

So you stop by the offices of this public agency charged with keeping foster care kids in Los Angeles County safe and out from harm's way, and you meet this kid named Max. He's sitting in the second row with his mother, Susan Young, a single mom.

Max looks so small and frail in this room filled with adults. Most are children's services workers who've stopped by to say thanks to some private citizens who came through big time at Christmas for the thousands of foster care kids of Los Angeles County.

There are people like school administrator Barbara Barnett, who's come to represent the students at North Hollywood High who donated hundreds of toys. And Canoga Park Postmaster Bob Swanson, on hand to represent all the mail carriers in the Valley who went out and bought more than 3,000 gifts for foster care kids.

Also present are private citizens like Gail Hayek, who came through with 225 gift certificates, and Barbara Bombea, who dropped off hundreds of toys for kids living out of suitcases.

Marilyn Landolfe of Countrywide Home Loans and Tracy Tigges of Foothill Capital represent hundreds of their fellow workers, who had opened their hearts and wallets this Christmas not just for their own kids but for ones not as fortunate.

And finally, the people who make their living keeping foster care children safe came to say thanks to Max, a 7-year-old Sherman Oaks boy who spent $50 from his college fund to buy dozens of bags of 99-cent gifts for kids he didn't know but hoped to meet.

When you have a son who likes to stop by Sherman Oaks-Van Nuys Park every weekend bringing food - to visit and spend time with homeless families living out of their cars - nothing he wants to do for others should surprise you anymore, Susan Young said.

But this Christmas came pretty close.

``About a week before Christmas, we were going to the bank to put some money in his college fund when he said, 'Mom, can I have $50?'''

``I told him Christmas was only a few days away, he could wait,'' Susan said, ``but he said it wasn't for him. He wanted to buy some gifts for kids who didn't have families.''

Max, a student at Riverside Drive School, recounted the rest of the story for the roomful of adults Wednesday.

``My mom and I went to Pic 'N' Save, and I bought emergency ponchos, barrettes, necklaces, little journals with locks on them so the kids could write in them, slippers and lots of stuff for 99 cents,'' he said.

``We filled up dozens of shopping bags and brought them here for the kids.''

Dee Dee Kuper, regional resource coordinator for the agency, was waiting for the county's youngest gift donor that day. She had to give him some bad news.

``Max wanted to give the gifts to the kids himself, but I told him we couldn't because we had to respect their privacy,'' Kuper said. ``Max was disappointed, but he understood.''

Max asked only one thing. Could he keep two of the bags? There was this shelter that the park people who live in their cars told him about. He knew there would be some kids there he could meet.

``So, that's what we did after we left here that day,'' his mother said.. ``Stopped by a shelter. Two families with little children came out to get the gifts, and Max was absolutely thrilled.''

It isn't a big deal, this visiting families who live out of their cars in the park or the spending time with the seniors in his neighborhood, Max told postman Richard Luman, who was being honored for playing Santa Claus for hundreds of foster kids at parties this Christmas.

It makes him happy, makes him feel good, Max said. That's all.

The postman nodded. He understood completely.

They took a few pictures together - the kid and the postman who plays Santa Claus. Then Max grabbed his mother's hand and said, ``Let's go.''

The kid who seems destined to go places couldn't wait to get home that day to make the rounds of his neighborhood - to share with the retired school teacher walking her dog and the lady down the block who's a shut-in what a great day he just had.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo:

Seven-year-old Maxwell Young and postal service worker Richard Luman are two of several individuals the Department of Children and Families Services honored Wednesday for their personal efforts to make the Christmas holiday season brighter for thousands of foster care children in Los Angeles County.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer