Coordination of Relief Becomes Daunting Task : Charity: A plethora of groups contribute. But many victims say they have seen little evidence of the effort.

Nearly a thousand Bright Star flashlights are headed by truck from snowbound Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to earthquake-devastated Los Angeles. Gerber is donating 5,000 cases of baby food. Sparkletts, Anheuser Busch and Miller Brewing are giving away purified water. Kawasaki is providing eight large generators.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, accompanied by National Guard troops armed with M-16 assault rifles, distributed hundreds of donated supermarket loaves of bread to newly homeless persons camped out on a Canoga Park softball field. The city government in Berlin, Germany, raised $60,000. The queen of Jordan called to lend assistance.

A two-mile convoy of trucks loaded with goods ranging from diapers to pet food was en route Saturday to Los Angeles, after a relief drive at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium.

Monday’s earthquake has clearly spawned an outpouring of much-needed and much-appreciated assistance. Beyond the immediate aid, some see an opportunity for long-term economic benefit to depressed communities.

Nonetheless, many victims--including dozens of families who camped out in MacArthur Park in recent days--say they have seen little evidence of the vast relief effort. “We’re on our own out here,” said Isidro Alfaro, staying in the park with his wife and daughter after their apartment was damaged.

Of course, responses to such disasters inevitably fail to reach everyone, particularly at the beginning. The job of linking donations to those who need help is a complicated one at best.

“We’re still trying to get through the basic stuff, and help all the people who aren’t getting help,” said Peggy Brutsche, a Red Cross official.

Relief workers point out that they are still identifying earthquake-related problems in Los Angeles’ far-flung and diverse communities. “Each day the needs become greater and greater,” said Susan Weight of Catholic Charities of Los Angeles.

There also has emerged some of the now-familiar tension between community-based activist groups and large, traditional relief agencies with their strong links to corporate America and the public.

Some see a systemic shortcoming in post-disaster relief efforts: Most large-scale corporate gifts are directed to venerable aid organizations, especially the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. While extremely capable, activists say, such national organizations lack the grass-roots contacts of Los Angeles’ many nonprofit community-based groups, which are largely out of the corporate disaster aid loop.

“A lot of these big organizations, like the Red Cross and so forth, are getting a lot of money, and they need it, but agencies like ours are also in need,” said Marianne Haver Hill, executive director of Meet Each Need With Dignity, a Pacoima-based social service agency whose headquarters remains closed because of earthquake damage.

Roberto Lovato, executive director of the Central American Resource Center, said: “There’s a severe service gap here.”

Community representatives said their comments are not meant as criticism of the Red Cross, which, all agree, has been quick to respond, providing shelter to more than 6,100 people and serving more than 60,000 meals as of Saturday.

However, many suggest that the Red Cross--severely criticized following the 1989 Loma Prieta quake for its initial plans to use donations outside of northern California--should directly assist recognized community-based groups, many battered by the temblor.

In response to pressure from San Franciso Mayor Art Agnos and others, the Red Cross backed off from the plan to divert excess funds and agreed to keep all $54 million collected after the 1989 earthquake in the Bay Area, marking a departure in policy. Half of the funds were spent on longer-term community projects, some in conjunction with area nonprofit groups.

This time, Red Cross officials have pledged not to divert out of the area money earmarked for earthquake relief in Los Angeles. Moreover, many activists are encouraging donors to seek out grass-roots organizations badly in need of support.

“I’ve been urging corporations not to put all their eggs in one basket,” said Richard Walden, president of Operation USA, a Los Angeles disaster-relief organization. “The corporations tend to give $100,000 to the Red Cross and then say, ‘Goodby.’ It’s easier for them to do that, but it’s not taking a very broad view of the situation.”

Ultimately, Walden and others see the possibility of marshaling the great welter of support for long-term projects.

“As a community that’s been stricken by three major disasters in the past two years, we have a great opportunity to plan and evolve as a result of this crisis, rather than merely responding in a reactive manner,” said Cynthia Robbins, who directs urban recovery programs for Public Counsel, a nonprofit legal advocacy group.

Red Cross officials say they are eager to work with community groups. But, they add, the initial emphasis has necessarily been placed on setting up shelters, feeding centers and other essential facilities.

“The community groups are close to the people, and they’re very aware of cultural and language issues,” said Brutsche of the Red Cross. “We want to collaborate with them.”

There is no question that the Northridge quake has prompted a rush to assist victims.

“Corporate America seems to have a disaster consciousness,” said Stephanie Mayer, a Red Cross spokeswoman in Washington. And so do ordinary citizens, who had donated more than $2 million to the Red Cross alone through Friday.

Among the major contributors: Aetna, American Express, Anheuser Busch, Arco, Bank of America, Bank of California, Coca-Cola, Dai-Ichi Kangyo Bank, First Interstate Bank, Ford, The Gap, GTE, IBM, VNMK-Mart, Matsushita, McDonald’s, Mobil, Pacific Telephone, Sakura Bank Ltd., Shell Oil, Times Mirror, Unocal, Wal-Mart, Wells Fargo and numerous others.

Through Friday, Red Cross officials said they had received $2.3 million in corporate contributions, bringing the total to $4.3 million. The United Way of Los Angeles said it had received about $500,000 in corporate contributions. The Salvation Army said it could not provide figures yet.

The Red Cross and other organizations have mobilized thousands of volunteers, setting up dozens of shelters throughout the region and providing water and daily meals to thousands. Churches, private companies and individuals, such as a Redondo Beach couple who showed up at the Winnetka Recreation Center on Saturday with $250 worth of food, diapers and other needed items, also have given direct support.

Southwest Airlines is flying in purified water from Oakland. Western Union is offering no-fee money transfers to quake-battered areas. AT&T; has donated cellular telephones and provided free long-distance service. Spanish-language station KLAX in Los Angeles has dispatched its popular on-air personalities with supplies donated by listeners.

Dennison’s Chili provided 115,000 servings of its famous chili with beans. Nissin Foods is donating 100,000 meals of Top Ramen instant noodles. LensCrafters, an Ohio-based concern, is giving eyeglasses to those who lost their spectacles. Ocean Isle Software, a Florida firm, is offering remote control equipment to allow computer users to stay home and thus reduce traffic congestion.

The Salvation Army provided 3,000 tents and 15 mobile kitchens.

Direct Relief International, a Santa Barbara-based disaster aid organization, has distributed more than 1,000 pounds of bandages, hundreds of suture packs, other medical supplies, and a mobile health van to Ventura County, where a regional clinic in Fillmore shut down because of damage.

World Vision, a Monrovia-based Christian aid group, is providing assistance to damaged churches, many of which double as social service agencies. (Constitutional restrictions on church-state relations prohibit direct federal assistance to repair damaged sanctuaries.)

“Here you are looking at institutions that provide a broad range of service--literacy training, dropout prevention, food, emergency shelter--and they are now being overloaded and finding the future for their operations very cloudy,” said James Sanchez, World Vision’s manager of disaster relief.

Catholic Charities of Los Angeles is distributing baby food, diapers, infant formula, bottled water, juice, blankets and sleeping bags throughout hard-hit areas. “I’ve worked a lot of disasters, but I’ve never worked one like this,” said Weight of Catholic Charities.

The Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles is providing food, legal assistance and psychological counseling.

The scope of necessity has presented logistic challenges.

Although Bright Star Industries in Pennsylvania had 1,000 flashlights on hand, the company lacked the needed batteries. Consequently, Walden of Operation USA said he was looking for 2,000 size D batteries to complete the match.

“I feel like Sgt. Bilko,” Walden said.

At the Red Cross nerve center on Wilshire Boulevard, Bruce P. Gustafson, the chapter’s director of gifts, endeavors to fill vital needs unmet by even an extraordinarily broad array of donations.

“We’re still trying to find 12 catering trucks,” said Gustafson. “We’re going to need a lot of propane . . . We’re looking for a courier service.”

Despite the magnitude of the relief effort, though, many in need have slipped through the cracks.

As many as 1,000 people, mostly recent immigrants, were reported last week to be on the streets of Pico-Union and other inner-city Los Angeles neighborhoods. Most fear returning to damaged apartment houses. Relatively few have benefited from the relief efforts evident elsewhere, activists said.

“There’s 1,000 people on the streets here, and until last night (Thursday) they had not seen a dime of the millions or so in dollars that had come in,” said Lovato of the Central American Resource Center.

As late as Friday afternoon, said Father Tom Rush, pastor of Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Pacoima, there was a “big gap” in service to the heavily Latino area of the San Fernando Valley.

“There are a number of people living on the streets; there’s a need for something closer to the people here,” he said.

Throughout the Valley and in other affected regions, community groups who work primarily on behalf of the region’s poorest residents suffered extensive damage. There has been a paucity of repair money.

“Many nonprofit organizations have taken a double hit,” said Jack Shakely, director of the California Community Foundation, one of the area’s principal philanthropic organizations. “They are being inundated with new clients, while trying to operate in buildings that have been damaged.”

Indeed, at least nine neighborhood clinics were shut down because of structural problems or staff unavailability.

One facility, El Projecto del Barrio in Pacoima, obtained a mobile medical van needed because its clinic had to close its doors after suffering building damage.

T.H.E. Clinic, which treats more than 20,000 patients a year in South-Central Los Angeles, curtailed service after sustaining damage to its telephone system, computers, medical equipment and ceiling.

The earthquake forced VOICE, the San Fernando Valley-based interdenominational activist group, to postpone a fund raiser aimed at helping youths find alternatives to gangs and violence.

These are the kind of community-based organizations, activists say, that desperately need direct assistance--be it from companies, foundations or other sources.

Some companies, such as Wells Fargo, have already reached out. The bank has offered to provide grants of up to $2,500 to neighborhood groups that have suffered damage or are experiencing increased demands for service. “People in the area know best what is worthy,” noted Kathleen Shilkret, a bank spokeswoman.

Neighborhood organizations, many desperate for emergency funding, say they are eagerly awaiting calls from the Red Cross and others with resources to spread around.

“We’ve been in touch with a number of potential donors, but we probably won’t see them until next week,” said Haver Hill of MEND, the Pacoima-based social service outlet whose meal program and medical services were disrupted by the quake. “Our whole medical program is trashed. We have people coming up to us, saying their babies are sick and literally asking us what can we do for them.”

Last week, representatives of area foundations--including Arco, Irvine, California Community, Ahmanson, Parsons and Welk--met to discuss their role.

Ultimately, activists say, the funding decisions being made now will determine whether donated money will effectively reach down to the grass-roots level.

“The aid is good, but it needs to be channeled in a way so that communities are taken into consideration--not in a paternalistic manner,” said Mario Salgado, an Oakland attorney who worked with earthquake victims following the 1989 quake. “There’s an issue of economic development of these communities that could be taken advantage of at this time when money is coming in . . . There’s actually an opportunity here.”

Contributing to the story were Times staff writers Tony Perry, Claudia Puig and Richard Simon.