The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo
Herald Publications - El Segundo, Hawthorne, Lawndale & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 108, No. 4 - January 24, 2019
Inside
This Issue
Certified & Licensed
Professionals.....................14
Classifieds............................4
Crossword/Sudoku.............4
Entertainment....................11
Legals............................ 12,13
Obituaries.............................2
Pets......................................16
School Spotlight..................6
Real Estate.....................7-10
Sports.............................. 6,15
Weekend
Forecast
Friday
Sunny
71˚/53˚
Saturday
Mostly
Cloudy
74˚/52˚
Sunday
Partly
Cloudy
69˚/54˚
Rainbow Rises Over El Segundo
It was a little wet in town recently, but look what happened when a little sun mingled with the showers over Rec Park. Photo by Daniel Farthing.
Mychal’s New Food Truck Offers
Work Opportunity for Disabled
By Brian Simon
When it first opened in 2002, Mychal’s
Learning Place set up shop in a Hawthorne
church with four staff members and 16
students on hand. It has since grown exponentially
-- with a 10,000-square foot
facility on Rosecrans that the organization
purchased in 2015, along with more than
130 students enrolled plus lead staff and over
145 volunteers. The mission, as established
by founder/executive director Ed Lynch,
remains the same as it was on day one: to
provide a center that creates programs so
youth and young adults with developmental
disabilities can enjoy independent, fulfilled
and productive lives. The proof has been in
the pudding with countless success stories
over the years. And with a new project that
kicked off last weekend, Lynch hopes to see
Mychal’s students reach even higher levels
than ever before.
A large group of supporters, including
City of El Segundo officials and business
leaders as well as well-wishers from neighboring
communities, came by the Mychal’s
parking lot this past Saturday for a ribboncutting
ceremony marking the launch of a
new coffee and baked goods food truck. The
“Mykie’s Coffee & Bakery Truck” will go
out into the community daily, initially targeting
the recently renovated business centers
in the Aviation Corridor where employees
may have a hankering for tasty treats and
hot mocha. But what makes this venture
especially unique is who will do the work.
“All the baked goods are made in our on-site
commercial kitchen by our students,” Lynch
explained. “They learn how to do absolutely
everything -- mix, measure, bake, use the
oven, pack. Also to prepare the coffee and
espresso.” The 22 students involved will be
on the truck with staff members and man the
bakery table. “All students in our program
already have food-handler certifications and
the ones interested in the truck let us know
they wanted to do this,” Lynch added.
Proceeds from the sales will go back into
Mychal’s programs to bolster funding for
training and expansion. As far as the menu,
Lynch noted the truck will carry “every kind
of cookie, muffins, scones, pumpkin bread,
lemon cakes, Bundt cakes, cake pops, almond
bars. A little of everything...”
Lynch named Mychal’s after his daughter
who passed away at the age of seven in
1995. He also has two sons – one an El
Segundo High School grad and the other currently
in El Segundo Middle School. Though
Mychal initially seemed normal, it became
evident by the age of two that something was
wrong. “She had an undiagnosed neurological
disorder,” he said, adding that doctors
only gave her a couple of years to live and
she managed to beat that by several. At the
time (the early 1990s), Lynch felt queasy
about available avenues for his daughter’s
care. “There were no programs where I felt
comfortable leaving her,” he said. “She was
wheelchair-bound with no language capability.
I wanted more than what was out there
– a place where they could treat those with
disabilities with respect and dignity and set
the bar higher.”
After Mychal’s death, Lynch jumped at the
opportunity to run an after school program
for special needs in Hawthorne. Prophetically
enough, he had volunteered for the Special
Olympics at the time his daughter was born
– even before he had any inkling of her
disability. Additionally, Mychal’s mom was
also involved with the LA GOAL adult day
program during the same period. The overall
experiences led Lynch to believe this path
was his calling in life. He opened Mychal’s
just days after the Hawthorne special needs
program shut down and the rest is history.
Early funding came from several sources,
including of all people the late rock icon
David Bowie who donated a signed guitar
and, through his own team, designed the
Mychal’s logo and developed a website.
Mychal’s students range in age from 12 to
30, with after school and adult programs as
well as a Special Olympics, bowling league
and popular events such as social dances and
plays. The disabilities may be intellectual or
developmental, or both. Examples are those
with autism or Down syndrome. “There is
an 85 percent unemployment rate with our
population,” Lynch said. “They deserve the
same quality of life as the rest of us.”
To help foster that quality of life, Mychal’s
trains its students to function effectively out
in the community by teaching them cooking,
on-the-job training, social integration, shopping,
how to do laundry, computer skills and
personal hygiene. The adult program, known
See Mychal’s, page 13