City Asks Residents to Be Its Missing Links

Civic leaders are asking residents to give them a hand, if not a donation, in the effort to form a human chain Sunday through this city and across the nation.

Hands Across America has had trouble in the Corona area, as it has had elsewhere across the nation, in recruiting enough residents to join hands in an appeal for hunger relief, a project official told local organizers Tuesday on a trip from Corona to Cabazon, a community on the desert’s edge in Riverside County.

And those organizers--including officials of the Corona Chamber of Commerce and Mayor S. R. (Al) Lopez--have joined their national counterparts in urging even people who do not give money to join the line, which will stretch about eight miles across the Riverside County community.

“We are seeking participation of bodies in the line, whether you’re going to make a donation or not,” said Carol Gallo, the chamber’s executive vice president.

Corona’s mayor was still confident Tuesday that, at least through his city, the human chain will be unbroken. “I’ve been receiving many calls from people wanting to sign up,” Lopez said. “On (Sunday), we’re hoping that people will also come forward.”

Businesses have purchased places in line for 285 junior-high and high-school students, or slightly more than a tenth of the city’s quota of participants, Gallo said.

But local police and organizers have estimated that more than 11,000 people--roughly equivalent to a quarter of Corona’s population--will need to join hands to complete the chain from the Orange County line to the City of Riverside.

However, interest in the cross-country chain has been picking up in the last few days, Gallo said.