Bringing Sanity to the Season

If it’s a sanity clause you’re needing to bring some reason into this month of frenzied buying, I have one for you.

It’s called Operation Santa Claus, and without it, thousands of Orange County children and elderly poor would have no Christmas at all.

Hundreds of volunteers, mainly county employees, collect toys, clothing and other items, individualize them and make sure they get to the kids who need them. It is a massive chore, and they do it on their own time without compensation.

In addition, the Orange County Fire Department has added its own personal touch to Operation Santa Claus. All year long, its people sell pens for $10 each, and that money goes into a special fund to purchase bicycles for children. This Christmas, they were able to buy 371 of them.

Recipients are mostly foster children and those from the neediest of families receiving public assistance. Anything that comes in too late for distribution goes to the Orangewood Children’s Home in Orange.

Last year, 11,757 individuals received gifts. This year, the total will run between 13,000 and 15,000, according to John Iagjian, who heads the effort as director of staff development and volunteer services for the county’s Social Services Agency.

“Our goal is to make sure that no child goes without a Christmas present, but as successful as we’ve been, we have a long way to go,” says Iagjian, pointing out that there are more than 18,000 families in the county receiving public assistance.

The schools in the county have provided a substantial boost to the project over the past few years by installing “Angel Trees” decorated with cards containing the names and ages of children in need. Schoolchildren take a name and donate a gift for that child.

Iagjian says there is a special need for gifts for teen-agers and toddlers. “When people think of children, they generally think of 4- to 7-year-olds and give accordingly,” he says, “so we wind up short on the two ends of the age spectrum.

“We need items for babies and we need items--such as clothing, makeup kits, cassette players--for the older kids,” he says.

One of the surest ways of reaching any age group, he points out, is to donate a gift certificate from a major department or discount store. Checks and cash, of course, come in handy, too.

In addition to the schools, all fire stations in the county are designated collection points for Operation Santa Claus.

Or, you can drop presents off at Orangewood (401 S. The City Drive, Orange) and at the social services offices (1440 E. 1st St., Santa Ana).

And you don’t even have to wrap the gifts. As a matter of fact, Iagjian would prefer you didn’t. “We have to see the item,” he says, “so we wind up unwrapping them anyway.”

The part of Operation Santa Claus I find particularly appealing is the fact that it directly involves our kids in the giving process.

My 11-year-old son picked the tag of a 9-year-old named Adrian from the tree at his school and spent a good deal of time trying to select a gift. After he had chosen one, it suddenly dawned on him that the name could belong to either a girl or boy, so he figured he was forced to go the gift certificate route.

Even that required some thought, though. We discussed the fact that some stores don’t have many locations, that some are a lot more expensive than others, while others have smaller selections.

He carefully weighed all the options and chose well, I think. Adrian will receive a gift certificate to a moderately priced store that carries a wide range of everything from clothing to toys to sporting goods.

The part my son finds sad and has difficulty understanding is why there are so many thousands of needy children in an area that has so much of everything.

But, then, so do I.