Ben Le will soon celebrate his 14th birthday, and when he does, he can also celebrate the fact that he planned and organized an impressive event that raised more than $3,000 for the Malibu Labor Exchange and the for homeless assistance.
He and his parents on Sunday hosted the Baxter Benefit Barbecue at Baxter Avenue Park. More than 100 people attended, enjoying hot dogs, hamburgers, grilled chicken and all the necessary side dishes prepared by Ben's parents Hung and Corinne.
The barbecue was Ben's idea for meeting the challenge given to him by his parents on his 13th birthday when he received a gift of money and was encouraged to grow that money to benefit the needy. Since Ben and his family have been regular volunteers with the SOS program and the Malibu Labor Exchange, Ben had no trouble deciding to whom he wanted to give the money.
Ben will be an eighth-grader at this fall. His mother is an instructional aide at and his father is the associate vice president and university registrar at Pepperdine. Both have been profiled in Dorothy Reinhold's column on Malibu Patch.
