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Scientologists in communities around the nation and the world constitute a potent force in society’s battle against such ills as crime, drug abuse and illiteracy, and have received extensive public acclaim for their work. They also assist their fellow citizens and their communities through a broad range of charitable events and activities, which play an equally vital role in community betterment.
cientologists’ actions to better conditions take place in communities everywhere, in keeping with the words of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard: “A being is only as valuable as he can serve others.”
On any given day, you can find them teaching inner-city youngsters how to read, opening doors to learning and opportunity which would otherwise be denied them.
You can find them helping drug addicts through the pains of withdrawal, and instructing them in skills with which they can, perhaps for the first time, truly face the problems of life, instead of retreating to drugs as a “solution.”
“The study technology is powerful. It makes you want to learn, makes you your own teacher. These people stuck with me until I woke up and realized that I could learn and that I wanted to.”
– Los Angeles teenager
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You can find them with their sleeves rolled up in communities around the world, where they are most needed. And the value of their assistance has not gone unnoticed.
California Governor Pete Wilson, for example, commemorated the 27th anniversary of the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International in Los Angeles with a special letter, read to more than 2,000 celebrants at Celebrity Centre’s anniversary party on August 3 by his personal representative.
“The Celebrity Centre’s dedication to improving the quality of life for its fellow citizens represents the kind of civic and humanitarian spirit upon which our society is built,” Governor Wilson stated.
“Whether you were raising funds for the Boy Scouts, the Hollywood Beautification Team, the Hollywood Arts Council, the World Literacy Crusade, the Hollywood PAL [Police Activities League] and Police Support Association; combating the scourge of drug and alcohol abuse and crime through your Narconon5, Drug-Free Marshal and Criminon6 programs; or having the Centre’s talented artists paint professional murals in buildings throughout the community – your members have been making a positive and lasting difference in countless lives for nearly three decades.
“The Celebrity Centre International is a sterling example of what people can do when they reach out with compassion and care.”
The Mayor of the City of Los Angeles, Richard Riordan, also officially recognized Celebrity Centre, writing that its parishioners had “greatly contributed toward making the Hollywood community a better place to live and work through helping artists with their careers, through active involvement in civic and charitable affairs with fundraisers that brought succor to thousands of underprivileged children.”
Mayor Riordan acknowledged that “Celebrity Centre International, through the efforts of its many artist parishioners, actively works to improve the conditions of our community, thus making a reality Mr. [L. Ron] Hubbard’s words that ‘The Artist injects the spirit of life into a culture.’”
In one recent and typical period of just a few months, more than 6,000 people attended benefits for a multitude of charitable organizations at the Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles – one example of one Church of Scientology helping its community.
“A Standard for Altruism”
The Church of Scientology’s long record of service to the community in battling crime and other problems was acknowledged by Captain Glenn R. Ackerman, recently retired as head of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood Police Station.
“They helped us with our youth support programs, such as our Police Activities League, which we call PAL,” he said. “It is assigned to provide recreation and tutorial activities for children in Hollywood. They donated not only time and energy, but some very substantial financial support for that program to help out Hollywood youth.” The Church’s support of such vital programs, aimed at providing positive activities for youth so they do not enter the dark world of drugs and crime, “has set a standard for altruism for the entire community,” he stated.
“I found they were very, very active in community affairs in Hollywood, and I also came to find out very quickly that that community interaction was all positive,” he said. “Whatever kind of community betterment or enhancement activity that the Police Department ... is working on, we always got participation from the Scientologists.”
He cited as examples the Church’s support of the Sparkle Program, aimed at cleaning up neighborhoods, and the key role played by the Church in Hollywood Night Out Against Crime – attended by thousands, including the Mayor of Los Angeles and many other dignitaries – where Scientologists provided the stage for the event and the evening’s musical entertainment, featuring such stars as Chick Corea, Mark Isham and Edgar Winter.
Captain Ackerman noted, “There is a quotation in the Bible that says, ‘Ye shall know them by their fruits.’ And that is the basis of my judgment of Scientologists.”
Drug-Free Marshals Recognized
The Atlanta chapter of the Church’s Drug-Free Marshals drug prevention campaign responded to a call by the city of Atlanta to ensure inner-city youths were not forgotten during the excitement of the Centennial Olympic Games and conducted a 21-park tour during the competitions to encourage young people to say “No” to drugs.
“The eyes of the world were on Atlanta, with the city hosting the Olympics,” said the Atlanta campaign coordinator for the Drug-Free Marshals, Church staff member Diane Stein. “We felt that it would only be fitting to show the world that the children of Atlanta are leaders and role models in the fight against the war on drugs that every nation is facing.”
The Marshals quadrupled their activities in the Olympics’ host city over the summer, with events nearly every day at parks throughout Atlanta.
“We also expanded the scope of our program to include information about steroids and other harmful drugs that children might hear about in connection with the Olympics,” Stein said.
At a ceremony to commemorate the dedication of the children participating in the Drug-Free Marshals program, Georgia Governor Zell Miller proclaimed July Drug-Free Marshals Month.
“[T]he Church of Scientology’s Drug-Free Marshals program is educating children and helping them understand that in order to achieve their goals, they must remain drug-free,” his proclamation stated, in part.
After signing the document in the presence of a number of Drug-Free Marshals, the governor was asked by one of the children to become an honorary Drug-Free Marshal himself. He agreed, then took the Marshals’ pledge to live a drug-free life and to encourage others to do the same.
“He will make a great drug-free role model for kids,” said Eva Benk, a 10-year-old Drug-Free Marshal.
“[T]he Church of Scientology’s Drug-Free Marshals program is educating children and helping them understand that in order to achieve their goals, they must remain drug-free.”
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Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell then declared July 31 Drug-Free Marshals Day, stating, “The Drug-Free Marshals are role models for their peers, and they empower other youth to say ‘No’ to the use of drugs.”
Nearly 1,000 children were sworn in as Drug-Free Marshals as part of Scientologists’ support of the Olympics.
Other activities by Scientologists during the games included the delivery of hundreds of “assists” to athletes and visitors. An assist in Scientology is an action to aid an individual in facing and alleviating physical discomforts or injuries.
Booths were established in the area so assists could be delivered to individuals in need, while teams of Volunteer Ministers circulated among athletes and visitors, helping where needed. Many copies of a special booklet describing how to administer assists were distributed to athletes and coaches.
In the wake of the terrorist bomb attack in Centennial Park, Volunteer Ministers of the Church of Scientology were the first on the scene, working through the night to provide assists to victims and to aid the rescue teams.
“A Being Is Only As Valuable As He Can Serve Others”
Just as it is in Georgia and California, so it is in other communities as Scientologists help where they are most needed.
In Washington, D.C., for example, Scientologists launched programs years ago to teach children in the inner city how to read, forming the Community Service Guild, a tutoring project to assist the public school system in America’s capital. Through the years, they trained hundreds of tutors, who in turn trained many thousands of students, with spectacular results. The Washington, D.C., City Council recognized the Church for its literacy program, drug-abuse prevention work and other community service activities. The proclamation stated, in part:
“[T]he Church of Scientology has been an active participant in the D.C. community for 40 years and ... has spearheaded the Drug-Free Marshals project for children between the ages of 5 and 14 and has helped to ensure that over 2,000 children in the D.C. community pledge themselves to a drug-free life and to help others live a drug-free life and ...
“[P]arishioners of the Church of Scientology have been helping D.C. elementary aged children since 1987 improve their reading and arithmetic and have been recognized for their contribution by the D.C. Public School System.”
The City Council proclaimed Scientology Community Betterment Day in recognition of the Church’s work and encouraged all citizens “to learn of the Church’s many contributions and explore ways to work with the Church in forwarding the goals of a better community.”
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