Her Christmas Toy Drive Brings Joy to Orphans in Hungary

Last year, Joy Kennelly started her own Christmas tradition. She organized a toy drive for children in Hungarian orphanages.

After finishing up work toward a bachelor’s degree at Seattle Pacific University, she signed up for a peace mission in Hungary sponsored by the European Christian Mission.

“I didn’t care what I did (on the mission),” said the 28-year-old West Los Angeles resident. “I had always traveled because my father was a missionary, and it was something that was in my blood.”

Kennelly’s assignment was to work with children in orphanages near the Yugoslavian border. Accompanied by four other missionaries, she helped plan activities and serve meals to children ranging in age from 5 to 17.

Although Kennelly found that the orphanages supplied the children with adequate amounts of food and clothing, she felt that love and understanding were absent in their lives. And the emotional needs of the children were often neglected because of a lack of staff members available to spend time with them. She said many of them had also been abused, abandoned or rejected.

“These kids don’t get a lot of attention,” she said. “It was our job to give them attention and some creative freedom to play.”

The experience left a lasting impression on Kennelly. When she returned to Seattle, she organized a Christmas toy drive for the Hungarian children whom she had recently befriended.

Kennelly said she had never coordinated such a project but she didn’t let the lack of experience spoil her enthusiasm or motivation. She made phone calls to bolster community support and contacted toy stores for donations. Her hard work paid off when she was able to send more than 18 boxes of toys and gifts with the help of friends living in Hungary.

Last February, Kennelly moved to Los Angeles but didn’t give up her new Christmas tradition. She is again putting together a toy drive.

On Saturday a toy drive will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Los Angeles Works Volunteer Headquarters at 424 N. Larchmont Blvd. in Los Angeles. Donations of toys, stuffed animals, sports equipment and books are welcomed. Volunteers are also needed to help box and address the toys.

“Sometimes I get overwhelmed putting something like this together,” she said. “But I keep praying and I know that it’s going to be really neat.”

After Christmas, Kennelly plans to return to Hungary and hand-deliver the presents to her pals.

“My heart it still with those kids,” she said. “It meant so much to them to have an American visitor. . . . I can’t forget those kids and I want them to know that someone still loves them.”

Noemi Perez, a second-year West Los Angeles College student, will serve as president of the college’s Associated Student Organization for the next year.

The Venice resident is a graduate of Pacific Palisades High School and plans to major in political science with a minor in Chicano studies.

The National Library of Poetry will publish works by Karen Adams in an upcoming anthology titled “The Best Poems of the ‘90s.”

Adams, a resident of Culver City, wrote on the universal subject of love. She has been previously published in two other poetry anthologies.

The Jackie Robinson Foundation awarded scholarships to six outstanding UCLA students selected by the UCLA/JRF scholarship selection committee. Scholarships winners are Glenda Breaux, Adele Hunter, Malinda Lindquist, Nnesochi Okonkwo, Brien Kelley and Phillip Olive.

The scholarships are awarded to students based on academic achievement, leadership potential and financial need. Each student received a $20,000 scholarship, $5,000 for each of four years.

The California Highway Patrol 11-99 Foundation recently honored Allen Ziegler with a CHP officers badge symbolizing honorary membership in the CHP and a plaque recognizing his financial assistance to the force.

Ziegler, a longtime supporter of the foundation, is a resident of Bel-Air.