GARDEN GROVE : Students Help Bring Cheer to Youngsters

Sitting on the floor of a crowded high school gym littered with torn wrapping paper and dappled with water from squirt guns, George, 5, opened a box containing a toy motorcycle.

“I wasn’t hoping for something like this. I was hoping for something different, but this (is) better than what I was hoping for,” he said. “This is great.”

George is one of 200 students from Clinton Elementary School and Mendenhall Special Education School who were treated Wednesday to a holiday party complete with gifts, cookies, punch and a visit from Santa Claus.

Held annually at Pacifica High School, the “Adopt-a-Child” party is thrown by the school’s 275 seniors. It is aimed at helping bring some cheer to low-income and disabled children, many of whom would receive few presents during the holidays.

Next to George, senior Dominick Scaccia, 18, said: “This feels great. The best part is the smile on their faces.”

Seniors watched as their wide-eyed “adopted” children unwrapped dolls, coloring books and crayons, walkie-talkies, bubble-blowing toys, bows with foam arrows, and slot car sets.

“I’ve been waiting for this ever since I was a freshman,” Bridget Haynes said. “Being able to help people less fortunate than you makes you feel better. This is what Christmas is all about. It makes me feel good.”