Ways to Fill Special Needs During Season

A visit from a stranger, a neatly wrapped gift, or a hot, home-cooked meal could give some San Fernando Valley residents a chance to see the holiday season as a time of hope and caring, rather than just another cheerless December.

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The following organizations are asking for help--in the form of time or donations--in making the holidays special.

To find out about these or other holiday opportunities, call the numbers listed or contact the Volunteer Center of San Fernando Valley at (818) 908-5066.

Independent Living Center is asking for donations of canned or dried food for its clients.

The nonprofit organization serves adults who have physical, developmental or sensory disabilities. It served 2,461 San Fernando Valley residents last year, said Evelyn Frye, job preparation specialist. The Van Nuys-based agency provides emergency food and shelter, transportation, housing referrals, benefit assistance, independent living training and employment assistance.

The agency also needs volunteers to help shut-in or disabled clients who need assistance tidying their homes, grocery shopping, or who need transportation to medical visits or holiday shopping.

For more information about donations or volunteering, call Frye at (818) 988-9525.

The Salvation Army of the San Fernando Valley needs donations of toys and clothing for children ages 13 and under. The organization will give toys, clothing and food to more than 900 needy families this holiday season. For more information, call Eileen Halverson at (818) 781-5739.

Volunteers of America--Maud Booth Family Center needs donations of toys and clothing for children ages 2 through 12. The day-care center for low-income or one-parent families will give gift and food packages to 110 families. For more information on what type donations are needed, call Evelyn Anguiano at (818) 980-2287.

The Pacoima-based Home Visitation Center, which serves low-income families and individuals in the San Fernando Valley and Santa Clarita, needs volunteers to sort donations, fill and deliver holiday baskets, work in the office and complete other tasks Wednesday through Friday. The center also needs donations of food or money, said Carlos A. Reyes, executive director. Reyes can be contacted at (818) 896-6122.

Project Angel Food will deliver Christmas dinners to 450 homebound AIDS patients and others with life-threatening illnesses, including 60 San Fernando Valley residents, on the eve of the holiday. The Los Angeles-based organization will serve two meals on Christmas Eve, one the regular meal for that day and the other a meal for Christmas. The organization needs drivers to deliver meals, beginning 11 a.m. Friday, Christmas Eve, and also needs volunteers to help in the kitchen from 9 a.m. Thursday and Friday. Valley volunteers will pick up meals from a site in North Hollywood, said Jenny Sandonato, the project’s Valley coordinator. To volunteer, call Sandonato at (213) 656-9615.

Hospital Home Health Care Agency in Van Nuys is looking for sponsors to adopt a needy family for the holidays. The sponsors are asked to call the agency to find out clothing sizes and children’s ages and then buy items the family needs. The agency hopes the children will get gifts of toys, books, “anything that kids would like,” said Lisa Nagy, the agency’s volunteer director. To ask about adopting a family, call (818) 785-1800.

Valley Storefront, Jewish Family Services is asking for donations of gifts for its senior and children’s programs, said Dorie Gradwohl, director of the North Hollywood center. “Just about anything that is given, we can use,” Gradwohl said. For more information, call the Valley Storefront at (818) 984-1380.

The Woodland Care Center is asking for volunteers to help Dec. 31 with its New Year’s Eve party that starts at 2:30 p.m. The for-profit, 152-bed nursing center in Reseda needs volunteers to help bring residents to the dining room, hand out noisemakers, serve refreshments and visit with elderly residents, said Meldy Shipp, activities director. For more information, call Shipp at (818) 881-4540.