Richmond Roundup

RAMS Keeps Moving Along
Richmond Area Multi-Services (RAMS) opened a coffee shop at its 1234 Indiana St. location to provide training and jobs for people living with mental illness. The new shop will serve coffee and pastries.

Also contributing to the shop was Brighter Beginnings, a non-profit group that works to beautify the environments where people with mental illness work or live. The group oversaw the painting of a mural May 16, which was dedicated to RAM's late director Evelyn Lee, and facilitated the planting of numerous plants.

Attending the May 16 event was District 1 Supervisor Jake McGoldrick and Assemblyman Leland Yee.

USF Breaks Ground for New Business School
The University of San Francisco School of Business and Management will break ground for a new 26,000 square-foot wing on Tuesday, June 3, at 3 p.m. The project also includes the complete renovation of McLaren Hall, current home to the business school.

Seventy percent of the funds needed for the construction have already been raised. The $18 million project is scheduled to be completed by August 2004.

"This is a giant step forward for the USF business school," said Gary Williams, dean of the University of San Francisco School of Business and Management.

"We will offer state-of-the-art classrooms in a beautiful new space, a wonderful environment for teaching our students the business practices they need to help make them a success after they graduate."

The groundbreaking will be attended by members of the university's board of trustees, donors, faculty members, students, volunteers leading the fundraising effort and the project's architects.

For more information, call 422-2513.

Groups Team up to Clean Ocean Beach Trash
More than 100 people combed a four mile stretch of Ocean Beach in May as part of a clean up sponsored by refuse removal company 1-800-GotJunk? and Big Brothers and Sisters of San Francisco, a mentoring program which pairs adults with local youth.

Tom Rypma, owner of the Bay Area franchise of 1-800-Got-Junk?, said it could take three trucks, each with a 405 cubic-foot capacity, to remove all the collected trash. Rypma wants this to be the start of an annual spring clean up at Ocean Beach sponsored by the company.

Wearing blue work gloves and carrying large black trash bags, the spring cleaners collected bottles, cans, candy wrappers, broken glass, nails, shipping pallets, soggy t-shirts and bricks.

One participant spent almost a half hour digging a rusty, mangled, partially-charred box spring out of the side of a sand dune.

At a mid-day hot dog and hamburger barbecue for the participants, Geraldine Greer wrapped her arms around Barbara Wood, her "big sister" of three years. Greer said she was happy to be able to help the environment.

"I'm a do-good sister," Greer said.

Rypma said they chose to partner with Big Brothers and Sisters because they wanted to team up with a charity which involved children. He liked the "mentoring" relationship that Big Brothers and Sisters offer.

The program pairs up to 400 men and women with local children each weekend.

"I think we made a difference," Rypma said.

­ Todd Levinson

Filmmakers Debut 'Shorts'
Two Richmond District filmmakers will debut their short films at the 27th annual SF International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, to be held June 12 through June 29 at the Castro and Herbst theaters.

Nancy Gaglio's film "Love Life" and Cristina Ferrer's film "911 Salon" will be shown. For more information or a schedule, call Frameline at 703-8650.

Adopt a Pet at Pac Bell Park
For the second season, there will be dogs and cats from the San Francisco SPCA at Pacific Bell Park, as the SPCA and the SF Giants join forces to promote pet adoption.

During home games on Monday, June 2; Saturday, June 28; Thursday, July 24; Saturday, July 26 and Saturday, Aug. 9, the SF/SPCA mobile adoption center will be located at Pac Bell Park's Port Walk. Fans can meet dogs, cats, kittens and puppies - all ready and waiting for a home.