Wellness Community

The Wellness Community, a nonprofit organization that provides free psychological and social support to adults with cancer and their families, is seeking a volunteer coordinator. The coordinator of front-desk volunteers will schedule office volunteers and donate about two to four hours of time each week from their home or the Wellness Community office, 530 Hampshire Road in Westlake Village.

Known for her flamboyant hats and dazzling jewelry, Bernice Woods relished being in the public eye. So when the longtime community volunteer and former Compton city councilwoman died last month, her children opted to place her open casket in the drive-thru display window of Robert L. Adams Mortuary in Compton. "My mother was a community person," said Gregory W. Woods, 55, the youngest of the deceased woman's 10 children. "She meant so much to so many people. It is only fitting and proper that she would be viewed this way. " Adams funeral parlor, a fixture in Compton since 1974, brings to the business of death a convenience of the living: drive-thru viewing of the dead.

Re "Survivorship: A New Movement Among Cancer Patients" (by Allan Parachini, Feb. 3): Since I am now and have been for about five months a cancer patient looking forward to survivorship, your article interested me not just a little, but I was sad to see you were missing an important resource on your list of groups. The Wellness Community in Santa Monica is very important to me and therefore, I feel could be543780208cancer. WINNIE KOGAN Los Angeles

It was just an inconvenient traffic stop on the way through town for Javier Barrera Saldivar. Police had spotted the broken tail light on his car, and he figured he'd get a fix-it ticket and be on his way. But federal immigration officers soon rolled up, wielding handcuffs and Barrera's mug shot on a cellphone. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have been stationed at the Police Department of this San Diego County city since May, responding to everything from traffic stops to gang sweeps in an aggressive effort to clear the community of illegal immigrants with deportation orders or criminal records.

The article focusing on one aspect of the life of Norman Cousins ("The Positive Influence of Norman Cousins," Dec. 6) mentioned the relationship between Cousins and The Wellness Community. I write this letter to you so that all may know that without Norman Cousins there would be no Wellness Community. Because of Cousins' words and deeds, millions of us learned of the connection between the mind and physical well-being. More personally, his were the words that laid the foundation from which evolved the concept of The Wellness Community, a program that would teach untold numbers of cancer patients to join with their physician and health care team in the fight for recovery.

* The Wellness Community Valley/Ventura received a $25,000 donation from the Amgen Foundation. The nonprofit organization, which is based in Westlake Village and operates a satellite program in Camarillo, offers free cancer support groups and educational programs to patients and their families from Santa Barbara to the western San Fernando Valley. Awards and Honors is compiled by Rodney Bosch. Please address items to Awards and Honors, Los Angeles Times, 93 S. Chestnut St., Ventura 93001.

The Wellness Community Valley / Ventura, a nonprofit support center for cancer patients and their families, honored two Ventura County residents during its annual Volunteer Recognition Night. Diana Malmquist of Westlake Village was honored for creating and overseeing one of the organization's most successful and popular fund-raising events, the annual Holiday Homes Tour. Pauline Wilson of Thousand Oaks was honored as the volunteer who donated the most hours in 1996.

Hoping to help more Latino cancer patients in the San Fernando Valley, a new effort is underway to provide support groups and a telephone hotline for Spanish speakers. To kick off the initiative, Wellness Community staff members and volunteers will hold an open house for cancer patients and their families tonight at a Catholic church in Canoga Park.

"Keep a positive attitude! You can achieve your highest goals with the right kind of attitude." Mom and Dad drilled versions of these motivating words in our heads throughout our youth. At the time, we may not have understood the words' power, but eventually we found ourselves saying, "I can do it" when we met a challenge. With those words came a surge of confidence that help us set out not just to compete but to conquer. Maybe they can even cure.

A golf tournament held at Sherwood Country Club earlier this month raised $60,000 for the Wellness Community Valley/Ventura, a nonprofit organization that offers support programs for cancer patients. More than 100 people participated in the event, including Olympic figure-skating gold medalist Scott Hamilton, who spoke at an awards ceremony afterward about his successful fight against cancer.

A memorial service for Harriet Benjamin, whose cancer battle inspired the creation of the Wellness Community support network for cancer patients and their families, will be held at 2 p.m. May 27 at Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. Reservations should be made by calling Jackie Korman at (818) 606-0049. Benjamin, whose husband, Harold, founded the Wellness Community in Santa Monica in 1982, died of lung cancer April 7 at her Marina del Rey home. She was 85.

Harriet Benjamin, whose breast cancer battle inspired the Wellness Community, an innovative support network for cancer patients and their families, died April 7 at her Marina del Rey home. She was 85. Benjamin was cancer-free for more than 35 years after her initial diagnosis in 1972. Her death came five months after she was found to have lung cancer, said her daughter, Ann.

Standing 7 feet and 1 inch tall, weighing 188 pounds and wearing a size 18 1/2 shoe, Cheikh Ahmadou Bamba Fall hopes that his physique and talent may one day land him a spot in America's premier basketball league. The prospect of playing in the National Basketball Assn. dominated his thoughts as he was growing up, scrimmaging barefoot with other lanky and athletically gifted teens, on dirt courts in the West African nation of Senegal. St.

The Wellness Community will offer seminars on brain tumors and lung cancer this week. "Brain Tumors: Myths That Help or Hinder" will be presented from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at the Wellness Community Valley/Ventura office, 530 Hampshire Road, Westlake Village. "Frankly Speaking About Lung Cancer" will run from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Westlake Village Inn, 31943 Agoura Road, Westlake Village.

The Wellness Community will present the 11th annual Holiday Homes Tour Boutique Dec. 7 and 8 at Gardens of the World in Thousand Oaks. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 7 and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 8. Gardens of the World is at 2001 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Admission is free. For more information, call 379-4777.

To help those undergoing chemotherapy or radiation treatment, the American Cancer Society will present a "Look Good ... Feel Better" program. The free session will provide makeup, hairstyling, skin care and grooming tips to help patients deal with changes in their appearance. The class will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the Wellness Community, 530 Hampshire Road, Westlake Village. For details, call 379-4777.

EDUCATION THURSDAY "A State of Wellness: Living with MS," an online educational program on multiple sclerosis, sponsored by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Go to www.national mssociety.org, click on "Educational Programs," then "MS Learn Online." 5:30-6:30 p.m. (949) 752-1680 or (800) FIGHT MS. SCREENINGS WEDNESDAY * Blood pressure and diabetes screenings. East Valley Multipurpose Senior Center, 5000 Colfax Ave., North Hollywood. 12-2 p.m. Free. No reservations necessary.