Mailboxes deliver opportunity to kids

Star file photo
The Garden District Neighborhood Association gives teens an opportunity to be creative and benefit their computer and bike clubs.

Adding curb appeal to your home doesn't require hours in the sweltering heat.

Hot out of the hands of teens participating in the Martha Cooper Youth Summer Program come hand-painted mailboxes.

The Midtown neighborhood association program, in its seventh year, has struck a chord with Tucsonans.

David Kha, treasurer for the association, aka Midtown: The Garden District Neighborhood Association, says he still has a waiting list of people wanting mailboxes from last year's program.

"The whole idea is to beautify the neighborhood," Kha says.

"A lot of people say 'why mailboxes?' I say, look at all the graffiti. Children like to paint. Instead of blame them, let's use them," he says.

The mailboxes, which sell for $20 each, are painted by teens hired by Tucson Youth Development and vary in design.

The program is managed by Kha, who is the coordinator of the Martha Cooper Youth Summer Program.

Profits from sales of the mailboxes benefit the Midtown Computer and Bike Clubs, which teach kids to build and fix computers and bikes.

"Kids like it because they feel they earned the bicycle or computer instead of someone giving it to them," Kha says. "It's an incentive to learn."

Those interested in buying a mailbox can e-mail David Kha at khasan@aol.com or call
323-8278.

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