Dorothy Chandler

I wish you knew how much it hurt to hear that Dorothy Buffum Chandler had passed away (July 7). I know she will watch over us for years to come. I was involved with the YMCA organization in the mid-Valley area in the 1970s. Mrs. Chandler helped our YMCA raise funds, so I and a lot of other young people could go on a camping trip to the Mammoth area at very limited cost. My parents were thrilled and I had a great time.

We raised funds through a pancake breakfast and car wash on Saturdays. I was a volunteer assistant counselor. Mrs. Chandler and her friends came by the YMCA and offered suggestions and ideas how we could raise money, so that some blue-collar teenagers of all races could experience YMCA camp.

The Chandlers have always put the community first in their approach to charity. I wish more people of power and money could learn that the key to some of the problems in this world is through giving back to the community as the Chandler family has always done.

CHRIS BASEVI

Van Nuys