Celebrity Baseball Game to Benefit Activist Mens Group

MAD DADS usually spend their time walking city streets where they attempt to talk teenagers out of the allure of the fast life.

Saturday, however, Men Against Destruction Defending Against Drugs and Social Disorder will move to a different turf--Jim Blewett Field at Manual Arts High School--where they will play a benefit baseball game against a team of celebrities.

The Los Angeles Chapter of MAD DADS is scheduled to go up against the casts of the television shows “Moesha,” “Sparks,” “In the House” and “The Jamie Foxx Show” from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Proceeds from the game will go toward the MAD DADS’ Crenshaw District teen center. Tickets are $1 to $5.

“Our philosophy is to show a positive role model for young men and boys in the community,” said Warren Royal, a MAD DADS member for two years. “There is a such a negative image of the black male in the inner city. We just want to help the young members of the community take the lead in helping their families and their neighbors.”

MAD DADS was formed in 1989 in Nebraska by an Omaha father upset over a gang attack on his son. There are now 46 chapters in 13 states with more than 25,000 members.

In Los Angeles area, there is the main chapter in the Crenshaw district and divisions in Compton, Duarte, Venice, Inglewood and the Pueblo Del Rio housing project in southeast Los Angeles.

Information: (213) 290-7108 or a 24-hour hotline at (888) 623-3237.