O.C. Volunteers Send Truckloads of Aid to L.A.

Orange County residents have turned out in droves since the weekend to gather relief supplies for riot-ravaged Los Angeles, including an Irvine church whose members on Monday delivered nearly seven tons of food to the area.

“This is the beginning of a process,” said Bob Shank, pastor of South Coast Community Church, which put out the call for donated goods on Saturday.

By Monday, two moving vans had been filled with canned goods, bread, pasta, diapers, beans, rice and baby food. About 25 volunteers then delivered it to warehouses operated by the missionary organization World Impact in Compton and Los Angeles.

“It’s not just a one-day or a weekend issue,” Shank said. “It’s an ongoing thing.”

Allistor Nzegwu, director of World Impact in Watts, agreed.

“The greatest need is even down the line,” he said. “Our long-range plan is to be a center where people can come for food.”

Throughout the county, individuals and groups also went to work.

The Orange County Community Development Council of Costa Mesa delivered 35,000 pounds of food, mostly infant formula, to the riot area on Saturday, while Calvary Chapel of Santa Ana sent 25 truckloads of food and clothing. On Sunday, members of Second Baptist Church in Santa Ana brought food, clothing and blankets with them to church for families left homeless by the riot. And the Food Distribution Center in Orange weighed in with 1,500 cases of cereal, 450 cases of dry milk and 54 cases of regular milk for the children of Los Angeles.

“Most people are suffering because (the riot happened at) the end of the month,” said Jackie Dupont Walker, president of the Economic Development Corp. at South Coast Community Church. “They couldn’t get checks cashed, banks were closed and the neighborhood stores were burned. Many had severe spoilage.”

To help overcome that problem, the Food Distribution Center was also working with the California Trucking Assn. to get transportation services donated for food coming in from around the country. “The trucking is going to be as valuable as anything,” said the agency’s director, Fred Pratt.

On Monday, even schoolchildren were joining the effort, as the Laguna Beach Unified School District launched a campaign to collect blankets, toilet paper, paper towels, clothing and other sundry items.

And at least one Orange County ethnic community was responding with help for its own hit hard by the violence. Organized by the Korean American Assn. of Orange County, fund-raising efforts in South Korea and Orange County have already netted $450,000 for various relief efforts, said Jonathan Keo, a Korean journalist.

On Saturday, local activists also plan a Korean-American rally for peace and racial harmony. The rally will be at 10 a.m. on Garden Grove Boulevard in Garden Grove.

Emergency officials, meanwhile, reported that calm was returning around Orange County after several days of excitement fueled by rumor.

Nearly 500 county-based firefighters and law enforcement officers drafted for duty in Los Angeles had returned to their home bases where they were once again working regular shifts, officials said.

Traffic returned to its usual beginning-of-the-week density, said Kevin Livingston, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol in Santa Ana.

And the county’s Emergency Operations Center, which serves as an information clearinghouse during crises, shut down early Monday for lack of business, said director Fausto Reyes.

“As far as I know, everything is normal,” Reyes said.

Among the hardest hit by their riot duty were the county’s firefighters, many of whom reported being shot at or stoned as they tried to extinguish fires. Lenny Edelman, a Santa Ana fireman shot in the thigh by rioters on Thursday, was back home “in real good shape” by Monday, said Capt. Dan Young, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Department. The windshield on a firetruck had been shattered, and 500 flack jackets had been issued to firefighters by the Marines Corps at Camp Pendleton, which “we have no intention of giving back,” Young said.

“I don’t believe any of our crews have ever had people trying to kill them while they were trying to fight a fire,” Young said. “It was a unique situation.”

Police officers and firefighters were being replaced Monday by the army of volunteers descending on the riot-ravaged city. Dressed in shorts, T-shirts and slacks, the members of Orange County’s South Coast Community Church busily unloaded and emptied boxes of food in the midst of an eerie calm.

In the basement of the Ward African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles, families sorted through the donated clothing trying to find a pair of sneakers, a dress or a shirt that would fit a loved one, seemingly oblivious to the ruin outside.

One woman, who could barely speak English, had a simple answer when queried about why she and her five children had come to look for diapers and food contributed by strangers. When the riot hit, Elvira Pasillas explained, the local market, Payless Store and 99-Cent store where she usually shops had all been burned to the ground.

That reduced her already limited options.

“No work, no money,” she said succinctly in Spanish.

Times staff writers Donnette Dunbar and Ajowa Ifateyo contributed to this story.

Where to Give

Here is a list of Orange County organizations collecting donations for residents affected by the rioting in the Los Angeles area:

Korean-American Assn. of Orange County, 9888 Garden Grove Blvd., Garden Grove 92644, (714) 530-4810

* Money, clothing, food

Second Baptist Church of Santa Ana, 1915 W. McFadden Ave., Santa Ana 92704, (714) 541-4155

* Clothing, food, blankets, money

American Red Cross P.O. Box 11364, Santa Ana 92711, (714) 835-5381

* Money and volunteers

Radio Korea, Orange County Bureau, 9562 Garden Grove Blvd., Suite N, Garden Grove 92644, (714) 530-9670

* Money

Mariners Church, 1000 Bison Ave., Newport Beach 92660, (714) 640-6010

* Money, dry goods, cleanup volunteers

St. James Missionary Baptist Church, 1321 W. 5th St., Santa Ana 92703, (714) 558-6811

* Money, canned food, clothing

Presbytery of Los Ranchos, 330 W. Broadway, Anaheim 92805, (714) 956-3691

* Money

Food Distribution Center, 426 W. Almond Ave., Orange 92666, (714) 771-1343

* Canned goods

Orange County Community Development Council, 1695 W. MacArthur Blvd., Costa Mesa 92626, (714) 540-9293

* Diapers, toilet paper, perishable and non-perishable food items, personal hygiene products

Salvation Army, (trailer locations until 5:30 p.m.)

* Clothes, canned goods, blankets, towels, furniture (no perishable food items)

Beach Boulevard and Lincoln Avenue, Anaheim

1100 N. Anaheim Blvd., Anaheim

7035 Stanton Ave., Buena Park

2126 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa

Brookhurst Street and Warner Avenue, Fountain Valley

Edinger Avenue and Sher Lane, Huntington Beach

2603 W. 1st St., Santa Ana

Trucks will pick up large items from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Call (714) 758-0414 during those hours.