Spirit of the Season : Taking Gifts and Cheer to Those in Need

It’s what 11-year-old Donzell Singleton doesn’t want for Christmas this year that counts.

He doesn’t want to see anyone get shot outside his South-Central Los Angeles home, the way he did Friday. He doesn’t want to depend on charity for his Christmas gifts, the way he did Sunday at a holiday party for needy children at John C. Fremont High School. And he doesn’t want to tell his mother that he only can give her a kiss and hug for Christmas, the way he will in four days.

“Everybody should be happy when Christmastime comes,” said Donzell, clutching a Mickey Mouse sweat shirt from Santa Claus and a plastic grocery bag full of goodies.

On Sunday, thousands of volunteers brought a little Christmas cheer to South-Central at a time when spirits are flagging for those facing economic hard times or troubles stemming from the spring riots. Lawrence Oghenekohwo, in his third year as Santa Claus, said he looked into the eyes of a lot of downcast children at the Fremont party, sponsored by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, Love Is the Answer volunteers and other groups.

“It’s pretty low,” Oghenekohwo said of the day’s spirit.

But organizers of charitable events said troubled times have brought new volunteers into the fold.

“I talked to people who have never been to South-Central L.A.,” said Jalyn Jones-Roe, a volunteer coordinator for Los Angeles Christian Center, which distributed Christmas baskets to more than 150 seniors. Contributions came from corporations that had not been involved in previous years. The Quaker Oats Co. trucked in cases of oatmeal from Chicago.

At Greater New Zion Church, so many volunteers turned out from the Westside that they were given tasks as official huggers, official doo-wop carolers and official hoisters-of-little-ones-onto-Santa’s-lap. The toy and food giveaway was sponsored by One Voice, a Santa Monica-based nonprofit group. At eight locations throughout South-Central, One Voice’s 2,000 volunteers gave out more than 40,000 pounds of turkey, 4,000 bags of rolls, 30,000 pounds of yams and more, said executive director Susan Silbert.

First-time volunteer Stace Crist egged on 9-year-old Anthony Harris to sing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with her and gave hugs at the gates of Greater New Zion.

“All of us who live in (the Westside), we’re so far away from the inner city,” said Crist, 38, a trade broker and Pacific Palisades resident. “Here, you get back connected.”

Gloria Blackwell, 40, pushed a grocery cart to Greater New Zion and waited while volunteers brought her a Christmas dinner to take home. Blackwell, who is unemployed, supports three children on $826 a month in food stamps and welfare. Times got tougher after businesses in her neighborhood burned down in the riots. Her coin laundry is gone, so she washes clothes by hand. So is her grocery store, so she takes the bus three miles to get food.

“For Christmas, my money is much shorter,” Blackwell said. “It’s still crippling.”

Mary Williams, 43, and her 4-year-old daughter, Marilyn, cannot afford a Christmas tree this year. But Marilyn got a new Peter Pan action toy from One Voice.

“It’s one of those years when I’m behind in my rent and everything,” said Williams, who is unemployed. “This is a blessing.”