They Help Make Wishes Come True for Needy Families : Philanthropy: Women of a Hermosa Beach-based group called Sandpipers have ‘adopted’ have-nots for the holidays for more than 60 years.

Most children grow up believing that Santa and his elves live at the North Pole, but for 40 families and orphaned or abandoned children in the South Bay, the elves who made this Christmas a joyous one are a lot closer to home.

They are called Sandpipers, and for more than 60 years members of the Hermosa Beach-based women’s philanthropic group have brightened the holidays for needy South Bay families with gifts of food, clothing and toys.

Area organizations submit names of families needing help each season, with a gift wish noted for each child in the family. Pairs of Sandpipers then “adopt” each family, shopping for gifts for the children and a week’s groceries for the entire family. Each child--there were 126 this year--also receives a gift certificate for shoes. The teams wrap and deliver gifts to the family shortly before Christmas, and it’s often an emotional moment for givers and receivers alike.

“I hear stories about how the kids were dressed up as elves when (the Sandpipers) came to the door with their Christmas baskets,” said the group’s philanthropy chairwoman, Suzie Ouellette of Manhattan Beach. “I know when I delivered last year, the woman cried in my arms. It was a really tragic situation; she had a son who was severely retarded. She brought us into her home and gave us pictures of the kids, and we had coffee with her. It touched me so much that I did the same for her at Easter time. I took Easter baskets just because I wanted to keep in touch with them through the year.”

Such hands-on activities are nothing new for Sandpipers members.

Membership in the organization includes mandatory community service throughout the year, such as staffing free dental clinics at local elementary schools or preparing and delivering hot meals to shut-ins or to shelters such as 1736 House and Rainbow House. In fact, many of the families slated to receive Christmas baskets are identified by individual Sandpipers in the course of their community activities.

Most of the expenses are taken care of through fund-raising projects, such as the group’s designer show home and golf tournament each spring. Additionally, local merchants and major manufacturers donate many items, including toys, athletic equipment, clothing, food and even poinsettia plants. But it is not unusual for Sandpiper women themselves to contribute heavily to their adopted families.

“We get reimbursed $50 per child--I imagine I spent over $200,” said Lynda Courtney, a Manhattan Beach flight attendant, recalling her adopted family of last year. “My partner, Pam Ridley, and I ,went a little bit overboard. There were three children, a 12-year-old girl and two boys, 11 and 9. I bought for the girl, and my partner bought for the boys. I don’t have any children, and I had gone out shopping for this 12-year-old girl, who I’d give anything to have, and I got carried away.

“We had information about what they liked, their color preferences and so on. She loved pastels, and I bought her all kinds of clothes, (and) makeup. I (remembered) what it was like to be 12 going on 13, going into puberty. . . . You’re at that turning point in life where you’re real sensitive about your body, about yourself. I did go overboard, but . . . it was worth it. I got the mother and dad some things too.

“I just felt like, ‘There but for the grace of God go I.’ I was not from a wealthy family, and I can remember going through hard times when I was young. My parents were good people but they were not money-wise. We had a couple of Christmases at our house that were not the best, so I know what it’s like to feel bad about the holidays and to have people around you that have more.”

A second holiday project, now in its 16th year, is the Sugarplum Tree. Located at Manhattan Village Mall, it is a full-size Christmas tree covered with ornaments, each bearing a child’s name, age and a requested gift. Shoppers in the mall choose one or more ornaments and buy the gifts listed on them, at an average cost of less than $20. Gifts are then wrapped and delivered by volunteers to children in orphanages or shelters who are waiting for placement in adoptive or foster homes. Many of the children have been removed from their parents because of physical or sexual abuse.

“None of the requests are outrageous, they’re really very modest . . . sometimes just a warm sweater,” commented Pamela Redmond, who is in charge of staffing the tree during all the mall’s open hours this holiday season. “I think it’s important for families in the South Bay, especially the children who have so much, to know that there are children out there that only want a little troll doll . . . which might cost $12.99.

“I think sometimes we have this imaginary line drawn around the South Bay and we think we don’t have really needy individuals here. But we do. We have people who are just making it hour by hour.”

Even for Sandpipers, who are accustomed to working with individuals in need, the sight of a family in desperate straits at the holiday season can bring a jolting “reality check.”

“After I had delivered (my adopted family’s) gifts, I got in my silver BMW and I started back to my house on the sand dunes,” Courtney recalled. “I drove a few blocks away and just broke down. It was very humbling for me. As an international flight attendant, I’ve traveled a lot and seen so many Third World people . . . (but) you take a lot for granted when you were born and raised in this country. Even when hard times hit, you’re pretty well insulated from poverty.

“I felt that these people were going through hard times and they needed a break. They needed to have just one good Christmas to remember--at least one in their lives.”