LAGUNA HILLS : Tapping a Reservoir of Human Kindness

Jack Greenberg was annoyed with himself.

Displaced victims of the Northridge earthquake were struggling through cold and rain, and he was just sitting back, doing nothing, in the warmth and comfort of his Leisure World home.

“I was feeling guilty, because all I was doing was expressing sympathy for them, but not doing anything,” Greenberg recalled.

So Jan. 25, he telephoned the Red Cross and offered to organize a drive for clothing and food. Told that the agency would take whatever he could collect, Greenberg sprung into action.

Too late to make arrangements to use a Leisure World recreation center as a collection point, he decided his single-car garage would just have to do. Needing to get the word out, he persuaded the community paper to squeeze in a few paragraphs just before deadline announcing his effort.

On Thursday morning, when the paper hit doorsteps, Greenberg knew he’d done the right thing. His phone began ringing every few minutes and cars started pulling up at the driveway with people dropping off warm clothes and non-perishable food.

For the next three days, the Greenberg house became the epicenter of Leisure World’s earthquake donation drive. While his wife, Elenor, answered the repeatedly ringing phone, Greenberg met the steady stream of people who came up the driveway.

“They came by the droves. Hundreds of people came,” he said, beaming. “It was almost like a traffic jam. They would come two and three at a time, dropping things off and saying they appreciated the opportunity to do something.”

Some who came had tears in their eyes, Greenberg said. And some donated things that you’d think they’d never part with--like the woman who brought four quilts made by her mother, saying, “Those people need them more than I do.”

Greenberg and a friend also made house calls to pick up items that people were unable to deliver themselves. By Sunday, the garage was filled with bags and boxes of canned and dried food, shoes, sweaters, comforters, blankets and quilts.

Like a monument to the better side of human nature, the pile stood five feet high, eight feet wide and 22 feet long.

“I tapped into something with this,” he said. “The lesson for me is that people want to help. Sometimes they just need an avenue, they need someone to tell them what to do.”

Today, the Red Cross is sending a truck to the Greenberg residence to pick up all that he collected.

“Mr. Greenberg’s efforts have been above and beyond what most people are able to accomplish,” said Al Wynder, the Orange County Red Cross’ assistant director of financial development and corporate relations.

Normally, the agency doesn’t accept donations of food and clothing. But it made an exception after the earthquake because so many people called to offer what they had, Wynder said. Catholic Charities will distribute the items to those in need in the San Fernando Valley.

Knowing that, Greenberg said, allowed him to shake off the bad feeling he had a week ago.

“I’m a modest guy,” he said, “but it sure makes me feel good.”