Pupils Gather Food, Toys for the Needy

There was a festive air of frenzy at Harbor View Elementary School on Friday, and not just because it was the day before Christmas vacation.

Amid much laughter, chatter and last-minute wrapping, pupils at the Corona del Mar school wheeled, carried and dragged more than 100 hand-decorated cartons of gifts and food from classrooms to the auditorium.

There, parents loaded the bounty into vans that will deliver the goods to 26 needy Orange County families. The donations are being made to the Adopt-a-Family program operated by Share Our Selves, a Costa Mesa-based charitable organization.

“It makes me feel good because I’m giving things,” said Andrea Ashton, 6. “I brought two cans of soup and cans of good fruit because I thought that would be good for the family. It’s more fun to give (than receive) because they need food too, and that’s what we have.”

Shaina Lammerman, 7, said she feels “proud because she wants to make people happy.”

“Maybe they lost their money or lost their jobs,” she said. “Their life is kind of hard, and I want to make their Christmas wonderful.”

The scene is repeated annually when each classroom provides Christmas dinner with all the trimmings and gifts for the families, most of which have three to six children. The goods were gathered over three weeks.

“We like to start them in this in the first grade,” said Scottia Evans, computer teacher and adviser to the 26-member Student Council that promotes and organizes the drive.

Harbor View is one of about six Orange County elementary schools that participate in the program each year, said Share Our Selves director Jean Forbath. Another is Harbor Day, a private school, also in Corona del Mar.

Share Our Selves gives Harbor View the families’ names in addition to ages and genders of the children who are to receive gifts. During the first week of December, members of the student council go to the classrooms to promote the drive. The children are responsible for choosing, buying and wrapping the gifts and food.

Lindsay Ringwald, 9, a fourth-grader in Jan Jephcott’s class, said she and her classmates donated food for their adopted family and worked to earn $216 to buy toys for the four children.

“I washed the car and cleaned my room and took care of the dogs and washed dishes and cleaned the house,” said Lindsay, who earned $20 for her two weeks of work. “We got the money and had these coupons and voted on what to get and added up the prices on a calculator.”

After the decisions were made, some of the children went with their teacher to buy the gifts, including a tricycle, a fire station, an art set and a camera.

“We also got batteries and film, because they’re very expensive,” Lindsay said. “And we got 50 or 60 pounds of food and a 20-pound turkey. They’re going to have a big dinner.

“I can just see the look on their faces when they receive all the toys and food,” she said. “It makes me warm and happy that my class made that happen for them.”