Holiday Treat: Helping Others : SEAL BEACH : Retiree Brings Gifts, Love to Baja Village

Just before Christmas every year, a convoy of cars with California plates pulls into Nasa Zaragoza, Mexico, population 350. Even before the first car door opens, a cry rises above the 40 or so rooftops of the village: “They’re here!”

The call is repeated again and again, literally echoing off the nearby hills until every resident of the Baja California farming community has heard: Nasa Zaragoza’s personal Santa Claus has arrived, bringing with him cars filled with the only toys the children here ever see.

As the children run to wash their faces and pat down their hair, the village leaders come out to greet their benefactor, a man who appeared out of nowhere one day 22 years ago bearing medical supplies and blankets.

His name is Gerry Kyle, and he comes from a faraway spot in the north called Seal Beach. He comes because these people are his family, because they need him and, mostly, just because it feels right.

“You have to understand, these people have nothing. I mean nothing--not even the basics--blankets, shoes,” Kyle said. “They are just barely surviving. There’s so much tragedy out there.”

Kyle, who has traveled extensively, said he can’t remember how he happened upon the Nasa Zaragozans. But it was their strength and spirit that kept him coming back, he said.

“There’s so much love and happiness there, in spite of all the problems,” he said. “It makes up for a lot of what they lack.”

For example, 14-year-old Carmelita is the oldest of nine children whose mother died a few years ago. Every day she rises before dawn to fix tortillas and coffee for her brothers and sisters. She cooks, cleans, prods her siblings to do their homework and finally puts them all to bed. Two years ago, Kyle’s daughter told Carmelita she wanted to bring her a special gift. Carmelita insisted she didn’t need anything, but called her brother Salvador over and told him to lift his foot. The soles of his shoes were cardboard. Carmelita asked for shoes for her brother.

“Don’t you know, when Carmelita walked away, we saw her shoes were just the same as Salvador’s. Just the same--and she didn’t say a word,” Kyle said.

Kyle, now retired, and his wife spend about nine months of the year in Mexico. They visit Nasa Zaragoza and nearby Guadalupe--their other adopted town--once a month and work closely with the schools, persuading students to stay in as long as they can, helping children pay for their books and uniforms, doing what they can to help the teachers.

But the project closest to their hearts is the Christmas trip, a monthslong endeavor involving the efforts of Kyle’s four children and eight grandchildren, and donations from all corners of the Seal Beach community.

“It is so important to us to make sure that every one of those children has a toy on Christmas.”

The Kyles collect some 3,000 toys from individuals and businesses around the community each year--almost enough to cover their ever-growing list of children, now totaling about 3,500.

Anyone interested in donating toys, blankets, shoes, clothes, typewriters or a small school bus may call Kyle at 430-5221, or just drop the items off at 128 8th Street in Seal Beach. The deadline for the Christmas excursion is Dec. 13.