Feast on $6 PEPZ Spaghetti tonight, to benefit Rosie’s Garage! How can you go wrong?

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For some people, the main thing is the spaghetti – for others, it’s the great work that Rosie’s Garage has been doing for decades in the La Habra community.  For me, it’s a little of both – no, a LOT of both.

Let’s start with the spaghetti then.  Easily worth the trip northwest to La Habra, Pepz’ Pizza has by all accounts the most delicious spaghetti imaginable, with its hearty marinara sauce.  Their delectable meatballs may cost you extra, but what a deal at 6$, especially when “a percentage of that” goes to Rosie’s Garage, one of the most effective grassroots educational groups in Orange County.  (I just noticed at last night’s OC Symphony concert that Pepz’ also sponsors the Symphony, so is this a great company or what?)

Wait – did I say “a percentage” of your $6 will go to Rosie’s Garage?  Well, that’s what this flyer says, but out of curiosity I just checked, and guess what?  They lowballed that flyer, god knows why – $5 for each $6 dinner goes to the Garage!  That’s a pretty healthy percentage – something like 83%?  I don’t know, I’ll have to ask some of those local kids who have grown so smart doing their homework in Rosie’s Garage, their math may be better than mine at this point.

Whoa – it just struck me – you might not even be aware of Rosie’s Garage or what they do there.  So let’s deal with THAT now:

Rosie’s Garage is a nationally recognized after-school tutoring program of La Habra Neighborhood Housing Services started in 1990 by Rosie Espinoza because of her concern for the growing gang activity and low educational attainment of children in her neighborhood. Rosie’s Garage has helped to:

* Improve grade averages of participating students.
* Improve students’ attitude towards school and themselves.
* Involve parents in their children’s education and schools.
* Build a sense of community and decrease crime and gang activity in the local neighborhoods.

Program evaluations show that students tutored at Rosie’s Garage on average increased their abilities in writing by 2.1 grade levels and 2.9 grade levels in math. The program has been so successful that it has earned national recognition from CBS Evening News and the Presidents Points of Light Volunteer Award.

The Mission of Rosie’s Garage, Inc. is to provide a safe place: To reach and motivate at risk and underprivileged children; To make a difference by breaking generational poverty; Create a society of productive citizens; Encourage independence and responsibility by instilling confidence, hope and a love of learning, because every child deserves to learn and succeed.

Finally, just how far away IS La Habra, anyway?

We OC’ers tend to forget about our northwesternmost burgh, like some crazy maiden aunt in the attic, or a small sebaceous cyst on our scalp but under our hair.  But the town is PART of us to be sure, well worth supporting, and not really ALL that far away.

Let’s say, for example, you live in Huntington Beach or Fountain Valley like me – just zip up Beach or Harbor Blvd about 18 miles.  Shit, I’ve RUN that far in my youth, that’s nothing.

If, like most of my friends, you live in Anaheim or Fullerton, you’ve only got something like 7 miles or less to go – you might want to be taking Harbor straight there.  And if you live way over by Greg Diamond (or ARE him) – in Brea or Yorba Linda, say, you’ll probably be taking Imperial Highway to Harbor.  Even if you’re as far east as Anaheim Hills, it should be no more than 15 miles on the Imperial Highway route.

Even if you live in the far southernmost reaches of this vast county, say, for example, distant Irvine, it’s still no more than 25 miles or so, right up the 5, 57, Imperial, and Harbor!  So really, I pretty much expect to see ALL Orange Juice readers there, tomorrow evening, 6-9!

Tuesday, May 21, 2013, 6-9 pm
Pepz Pizza & Eatery, Family-operated since 2002
165 S. Harbor Blvd, La Habra
To purchase tickets call 714-626-0655, or e-mail garagekids@aol.com