Feb. 29, 2012 by Ben Baeder

DOWNEY – The event was to celebrate the opening of a health clinic.

But everybody wanted  to talk to the girl featured in the semi-nude calendar.

Vanessa Melendez and her crew of money-raising crazies on Wednesday stole the show from the traditional giant scissors at the grand opening of the Family Health Care Centers of Greater Los Angeles low-cost medical clinic at Washburn Road and Woodruff Avenue.

She and the Calendar Vixens presented the clinic with a $9,120 check that will go toward education and breast-cancer screening.

Melendez, a 27-year-old who works as a paralegal in Pico Rivera, lost her grandmother to complications related to breast cancer. Several of her friends had also lost loved ones.

"I got tired of buying pink things that only gave 5 percent to help women with breast cancer," she said.

In 2010, she collected her wildest group of friends and pitched an idea. The women from time to time would spontaneously get together, take their shirts off, "strategically cover" their breasts, and get their pictures taken.

"I literally called all my girlfriends who would be crazy enough to do it," she said.

Fernando Acevedo, a graphic designer and photographer from Pico Rivera, did all the photography.

For free.

Most of the shoots took place on a whim.

The girls would pile in cars, put on pink tutus "to get extra attention" and hustle out to the shoot location.

"We borrowed a $100,000 motorcycle," Acevedo said. "We borrowed a fancy car. We borrowed rifles and went up into the forest."

Using their facebook page and a website, the women sold hundreds of calendars.

They covered printing costs by selling old clothes.

Calendar Vixen and group secretary Claudia Guerrero said she and Melendez met in the police explorer program at the Bell Police Department.

Guerrero has a friend recovering from breast cancer, and the group was anxious to get the money into hands of people who would use it wisely.

"We didn't take a penny for ourselves, and we wanted every penny to help women,"Guerrero said.

The Vixens chose the health clinic in Downey because the staff could specifically say how it would be used.

Family Health Care Centers of Greater Los Angeles Inc. CEO Doctor Felix Nunez said the Vixens would likely attract a group who don't normally think about breast cancer.

"Their target audience is young men," he said. "They lure them in with the calendar, and then they get them thinking about breast cancer awareness."

The clinic has two exam rooms and will serve about 1,500 patients annually. It is funded by the county, the state and the federal government. The clinic, which will be staffed by a nurse practitioner or a doctor, will provide basic health care, including breast cancer screenings.

"We picked south Downey because there is a need here," Nunez said. "There weren't other clinics around, and the space worked for us."

About $50,000 of building costs were covered by the county, said Dennis Grizzle, the organization's director of development.

"We are very, very grateful to the county," he said.

Meanwhile, Vanessa and the Vixens are still selling calendars with hopes to raise more money.

"We want to reach those people who are not paying attention," she told a crowd of about 50 people hosted by the Downey Chamber of Commerce, including Downey Councilmen Mario Guerra and Fernando Vasquez.

"We hpe to reach the younger men and women, who are, let's face it, spending money on not-so-great things for their communities," Melendez said.

 Click here to go to the Calendar Vixens facebook page.