You Learn Something New Every Day
I've briefly mentioned Phil Hendrie in the past (a [1] and a [2]), but haven't written extensively about him. In brief, much of his radio show consists of him talking on the phone with some very bizarre men and women. Occasionally, he'll vent on some topic of the day.

However, when driving through Hollywood on Saturday I discovered a side of Phil Hendrie that I didn't know about. Today, I did a web search to find out why I saw a building in Hollywood called the "Phil Hendrie and Maria Sanchez Youth Center."

From Radio Business Report (RBR):

Phil Hendrie will be recognized by My Friend's Place when they name their new youth center at 5850 Hollywood Blvd., the "Phil Hendrie and Maria Sanchez Youth Center." Maria Sanchez is Hendrie's wife.

Over the last five years, Hendrie has donated over $600K to My Friend's Place, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping homeless and high-risk youth build self-sufficient, productive lives. Each year, Hendrie produces a "Best of the Phil Hendrie Show" CD that is sold on his website (www.philhendrieshow.com) with 100 percent of the proceeds going to My Friend's Place.

Youth, ages 12-24, will receive a wide range of services at the new "Phil Hendrie and Maria Sanchez Youth Center."

From LA Weekly, as noted in Free Republic:

Moreover, for someone whose livelihood is words, Hendrie’s actions really do speak louder. A case in point is My Friend’s Place, a charity that has assisted roughly 1,000 homeless youth each year for the past 15 years, providing free meals, clothing, hygiene and toiletry needs, a medical clinic, HIV testing, legal counsel, therapy, a computer lab, and education....“It’s easy to work with a 4- or 5-year-old from a crack family,” says Hendrie. “But when a kid hits 15 or 16, and he’s got pimples and his hair is spiked and his breath smells, nobody wants to cuddle them.”

According to current executive director David Brinkman, Hendrie is by far the charity’s largest benefactor, having provided an astounding $1 million from the sale of his annual “best of” CDs (seven so far), from which he donates 100 percent of the proceeds after production expenses. Since 1998, My Friend’s Place has been housed in an ex-sweatshop on Hollywood Boulevard, immediately west of the 101 freeway. From the southbound entrance ramp, you can see the shiny new letters proclaiming the facility “The Phil Hendrie and Maria Sanchez Center.”

“Phil is an extraordinarily humble and generous man,” says Brinkman. “He has no interest in any kind of publicity or recognition for what he’s doing. But he’s always joking, so listeners often aren’t sure if this is for real. When Oprah Winfrey does charity, her fan base knows that’s part of her mission. I don’t know that Phil’s fans really know this about him.”