LA HABRA : Students Bring Gifts, Joy to Poor

Maria Cisneros’ eyes filled with tears as 15 La Habra High School students recently delivered boxes full of canned foods, secondhand clothes and toys to her family.

“We didn’t have anything for Christmas,” the 32-year-old mother of four said in Spanish as she wept. “Now my kids have gifts. . . . My husband barely makes enough money to pay the rent, and we really appreciate this help.”

Linda Ochoa, one of the students delivering the goods, hugged Cisneros and wished the family “Feliz Navidad.” The 17-year-old 11th-grader felt a wave of emotion. “I almost started crying too,” she said.

Ochoa and the 14 other students--members of their school’s MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanos de Aztlan) club--distributed similar gifts to six needy families in La Habra last week.

“We’re just trying to help the community,” said April Bernatowicz, 17, the club’s president. “We wanted to make (the families’) Christmas merry, and doing this makes us feel good.”

The charitable deed was not the first for the MEChA club, a Latino student organization on campus. Members collected food, clothing and toys last year to deliver to needy families at Thanksgiving and again at Christmas.

This year, they repeated the acts and plan to do it again at Easter.

“The feeling you get from it is just so heartwarming,” said Ochoa, who served as the group’s translator.

“Esto es para ti (This is for you),” she told 7-year-old Miguel Cigales as she visited his home, handing him a stuffed bear that he hugged.

The boy has a brain tumor, and the bear took his mind off his pain, said his mother, Norma Cigales. “We can’t afford to buy him such nice things, and I’m so thankful to see him so happy,” she said.

Another child, Daniel Sanchez, dug into a stocking filled with candy, a coloring book, toothbrushes, crayons and small toys as smiling MEChA students watched. “Dulces (candies).” said the 3-year-old, his eyes wide.

The students are promoting goodwill and a “positive image of Latino youths,” said Frank Thompson, a history teacher and MEChA’s adviser.

“All people see is the bad,” said Thompson, who accompanied the students. “But the good outnumbers the bad, and these kids are proving that.”

Other MEChA-sponsored activities include painting over graffiti at La Habra High School and in the city’s heavily tagged streets, and campaigning against drugs and for education, members said.

“We’re good kids,” Bernatowicz said.