Holiday Treat: Helping Others : SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : ‘Elf Party’ Turns Out Toys for Tijuana

Being a garage-sale junkie can have its moments.

For Laureen Sahli, the most touching moment comes each year in December when she watches the faces of Mexican children as they receive the toys she and others have collected for them.

Sahli is now getting ready for this year’s delivery. The spacious living room of the San Juan Capistrano home she shares with her husband, Bruce, is crowded with more than 300 items gleaned from a year of bargain hunting and taking donations from friends. Armchairs are piled with stuffed animals, and boxes overflowing with toy dinosaurs, action figures and Barbie dolls cover the sofa.

“I’m waiting for my dryer to blow out,” Sahli said in reference to the innumerable loads of stuffed toys she has been washing. “It’s been going non-stop for two days, and I’m on my third economy-size bottle of detergent.”

Sahli plans to have an “elf party” this week, when friends will join her in tying ribbons, gluing on missing eyes and repairing rips.

The Sahlis and friend Tony Martinez will then deliver the toys to orphanages in Tijuana.

The toy drive has been part of Sahli’s Christmas for five years now. She said that the first year she had a collection of second-hand toys that she wanted to give away, the local toy drives for underprivileged American children would not take them. She said those charities told her they wanted toys that were new or worth at least $5.

“I couldn’t see that the price mattered to a child,” Sahli said, “so I figured if they wouldn’t take my toys, I would bring them somewhere else where they would be appreciated.”

The toughest things to find, Sahli said, are doll clothes, sporting equipment and toys for boys.

Toy donations for the drive are being accepted at the Paisley Penguin store, 31782 Camino Capistrano, and at Shark Bait Surf and Sport, 34095 Doheny Park Road.