CLASSICAL MUSIC CONCERT TO RAISE FUNDS FOR SENIOR HOUSING COMPLEX.

Byline: Virginia Gonzalez Community News

A classical music concert with proceeds to benefit a Los Angeles senior citizen housing facility is scheduled for Aug. 25 at the Sheraton Grande Hotel.

Chicago Symphony Chorus tenor Edward Ozaki and pianists Marina Bales Ozaki and Gemma Belderol Caunan will reproduce Filipino and Japanese musical pieces, along with works of Chopin, Debussy and Tchaikovsky, said Art Pacho, a board of directors member of the Filipino American Service Group Inc., the nonprofit organization sponsoring the concert.

``We would like to share a taste of our culture with the community through beautiful music,'' Pacho said.

Pacho said that the 20-bed transitional home for homeless and other senior citizens provides literacy training and skills as well as the distribution of free food, health screenings and social activities for older adults.

The service group housed four of the Thai immigrants involved in a sweatshop scandal in Los Angeles earlier this year.

Each immigrant received free housing, literacy training to help them get through the legal procedure involved in their case and the support of the Asian community at large, Pacho said.

General admission for the 2 p.m. concert costs $15, and $10 for senior citizens and students.

The Sheraton Grande Hotel is at 333 South Figueroa St. in Los Angeles.

Additional information and reservations for the semiformal event can be obtained by calling the FASGI office at [phone].

Local beaches will get less contaminants carried from San Fernando Valley flood control channels thanks to cleanup efforts that began last month.

About 2,900 drainage catch basins throughout the West San Fernando Valley and other communities in west Los Angeles County will be cleared of debris through continuing routine maintenance in September, said Joel Bellman, press deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

Old mattress frames, furniture, tires and potentially hazardous substances such as motor oil and engine coolant will be collected by a professional organization hired through the county.

Community volunteers throughout the Valley who want to help keep their neighborhoods clean also may volunteer for year-round cleanup efforts, many of which are sponsored through local police stations. Volunteers should contact their police community relations departments at the following telephone numbers: Devonshire station, [phone]; Foothill station, [phone]; North Hollywood station, [phone]; Van Nuys station, [phone]; and West Valley station, [phone].

Valley residents who would like more information on household hazardous waste removal such as where they can discard old paint or radiator coolant fluid should call [phone]. This toll-free county Department of Public Works 24-hour hotline provides a variety of information about cleanup-related concerns.

Musical talent, entertainment and free prizes and food are among the festivities planned for Sun Valley youth Saturday in a program to fight gangs and drug abuse.

``San Fernando Valley Street Beat,'' an annual youth rally sponsored by the Arleta Foursquare Church, will feature live Christian rap, rock and mariachi band performances as a way to get youth interested in nondestructive lifestyles, said Lori Madrid, an event coordinator.

Madrid said that 2,000 bags of groceries and more than 500 toys and clothing articles collected by Pro-Vision, the church's food ministry program, will be passed out to needy individuals and families.

Raffles and music compact discs, tapes and gift certificates to local eateries also will be presented to attendees, Madrid said.

Children also will be included in the 3-11 p.m. event with funny yet inspiring puppet shows that deliver a message of hope.

Arleta Foursquare Church's pastor, Armando Portillo, a former gang member and drug addict, also will deliver inspiring accounts of his past experiences with the hope of providing options that at-risk youth and adults will take.

The church is at 8025 Wheatland Ave. in Sun Valley. For more information about the rally, call the church at [phone].

A group of representatives from Haven Hills Battered Women's Shelter are using a new role-playing program to spread the message that domestic violence has no place in healthy relationships.

Known as the Teen Team, the group of traveling representatives from the shelter - some of whom have been victims of domestic violence themselves - expose teen audiences and others to realistic party scenarios and encourage audience participation and discussion, said Linda Quan, director of Public Affairs at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Woodland Hills, a co-sponsor of the program.

Haven Hills' Teen Team was formed with the help of Kaiser's $25,000 Good Neighbor Grant awarded to help them develop a community outreach program that addresses teen-dating violence prevention.

The Teen Team hopes to share its message by presenting the program at Valley high schools, and to religious and community organizations. Those interested in having the group perform at their organization can call Haven Hills Battered Women's Shelter at [phone].

Haven Hills also has a 24-hour emergency hotline that victims of domestic violence can call to help get through a crisis situation. That number is [phone].

MEMO: Do you have news in your neighborhood? If so, please send the information to Virginia Gonzalez, Daily News Editorial Department, P.O. Box 4200, Woodland Hills, Calif. 91365-4200. Fax: [phone].