Volunteers Help Fill Gap in Tight Times : 2 Valley residents provide a shining example through their efforts at Encino B’nai B’rith

The Los Angeles County budget hearings that are set to begin tomorrow will herald the arrival of an ever-widening gap between social needs and the funding required to address them. General relief benefits, for example, may fall by 27%, and all county-operated clinics and comprehensive health centers may have to shut their doors.

At times such as these, the work of volunteers and charitable organizations only grows in importance. They cannot hope to completely fill the gap of human needs left by dwindling county and city government resources, but that in no way detracts from the significance of their efforts. The work of San Fernando Valley residents David Kaye and Marvin Flagg serve as an excellent case in point.

Kaye and Flagg have presided over a Gargantuan effort that was responsible last year for the collection and donation of some 1.5 million pounds of food, about 4,000 toys and 2,000 blankets to more than 40 charitable and social service groups throughout the county. It has been estimated that the 18-year-old operation helps to feed about 4,000 people each week.

Under the auspices of the Encino B’nai B’rith, the two have developed a pool of manufacturers and distributors who have donated health and hygiene items, laundry supplies, cosmetics, bolts of fabric, books, jewelry, perfume and even undergarments. Flagg and Kaye and other B’nai B’rith volunteers have sent all of it along to groups serving the homeless, battered women, abused children and other needy persons.

“We have a saying,” says Flagg, “there is not a piece of merchandise that we can’t find a place for.”

That serves as something of a hint to Valley businesses and individuals who have an interest in helping those who are less fortunate. Flagg and Kaye are looking to expand their efforts, and that includes an interest in acquiring more free storage space for collected items. Any takers?