SOUTH GATE : Deficit Spending Pays for D.C. Trip

Members of South Gate High School’s Young Leaders of America club, scheduled to return today from the nation’s capital, may come back rich in knowledge but they will be cash poor.

The 20 students, members of the school’s nonpartisan political club, sponsored garage sales, sold churros and T-shirts, and solicited donations for three months.

But the group was still $3,000 short of their $8,000 goal when they flew to Washington on April 12, club leaders said.

“It’s been tiring” raising funds, said Carlos Privado, 17, before leaving for the trip. “I haven’t been home from school until 7 or 8 p.m. because I’m selling churros or getting donations.”

The group arranged the trip after a class discussion raised questions about how the federal government functioned, said Victorio Gutierrez, honors history teacher and club sponsor.

But unlike other school trips to the capital, Gutierrez said, the Young Leaders of America planned to take a self-guided tour because the club could not afford a packaged commercial tour.

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles) promised to supply the group with transportation around the capital, Gutierrez said, but if that plan fell through, group members were prepared to see the city on foot or by bus, he said. Members also took sleeping bags in case they needed to sleep on the floor at homes of some of the students’ relatives.

The club was scheduled to observe Congress in session, tour the White House and visit the Smithsonian Institution, Gutierrez said. The club also planned to visit some of Washington’s residential areas to get a complete picture of the city.

The group is seeking donations and will continue to raise funds until they pay off the trip, said Anarosa Pena, parent and president of the Pacific Coast Parent Teacher Assn.

Although the group went into debt to make the trip, the experience would be worth it, said Pena, who paid $375 to cover one student’s ticket.

“This is one time in their lives where they can see beyond their community,” Pena said. “Who knows? Maybe this will encourage them in the future to run for political office.”