Holiday Gift Drive Is Part of Volunteer’s Year-Round Service : Charity: For Simi Valley City Clerk Alice Redondo, helping others comes naturally--in and out of the office.

Growing up on a dairy farm in central Minnesota, Alice Redondo remembers Christmas as a snowy, chaotic time when her family would join with neighboring farmers to celebrate the holiday.

“During the year we all helped each other, going from one farm to the next,” recalled Redondo, who works as Simi Valley’s city clerk. “Nobody really thought twice about it. It was just a natural thing to help your neighbors. Then, during the holidays, we would just give thanks for everything we had accomplished.”

Now, while her seven siblings continue to gather with neighbors each year for a white Minnesota Christmas, Redondo, 52, has carried that tradition of holiday sharing to Simi Valley.

Around City Hall, Redondo is known as the helpful city clerk who, in addition to her role as record keeper for the city, patiently fields a steady stream of information requests and questions from her co-workers and the public.

“I guess the best thing about my job is that I get to interact with a lot of different people,” Redondo said. “It’s the kind of job where you really feel like you can help people.”

Outside the office, the rosy-cheeked, cheerful woman with more than a passing resemblance to Mrs. Santa Claus takes the role one step further, volunteering much of her spare time to help others.

This year she is co-chairing a gift drive at St. Peter Claver Church to collect more than 1,100 holiday gifts for needy children and senior citizens.

The weekend after Thanksgiving, Redondo and other volunteers decorated the church’s Giving Tree with paper ornaments bearing children’s wishes for gifts of clothing and toys from local social service groups.

For the next several weeks, parishioners took home the ornaments and returned with the brightly wrapped packages, which filled the church sanctuary.

“It was really amazing,” said Mary Joy Petry, who worked with Redondo in organizing the gift drive. “It was almost overwhelming.”

In addition, Redondo and some of her neighbors have “adopted” the family of a battered woman in Los Angeles for the holidays. They will provide gifts and Christmas dinner for the woman and her three children.

Such actions have not gone unnoticed.

Father Dennis Mongrain at St. Peter had high praise for his parishioner, whose volunteer efforts at the church continue year-round.

Redondo has taught a religious education class at the church and is using her knowledge of government procedure to help slog through plans for a new parish.

“Alice is a very sincere, very giving person who puts a lot of energy into helping other people,” Mongrain said. “She is a good, Christian woman who really lives her faith.”

On a recent, sunny morning, Redondo delivered plastic sacks loaded with gifts to the Samaritan Center, a new drop-in service for homeless people that is celebrating its first Christmas.

As Redondo unloaded the sacks from her trunk, the bundles drew the curiosity of the center’s clients.

“What’d you get me, Santa?” one homeless woman asked.

“This inner child of mine needs one of those toys so badly,” another joked.

Samaritan Center Director Judy Hall greeted Redondo’s arrival with a wide grin.

“Oh, this is wonderful, just wonderful,” Hall said as Redondo heaped the sacks in a corner. “Being homeless is really trying for people with kids. When the holidays roll around, it’s especially hard.”

For Jeff and Wendy Apperson, those words ring true.

The Appersons and their 4-year-old son Brandon have been living in a battered Chevy pickup since Jeff lost his job as a telephone repairman seven months ago.

Brandon has asked for Power Ranger toys for Christmas.

Not wanting to disappoint his son, Jeff Apperson pulled together the money to buy a set of the pricey action figures.

“When you’re 4 years old, it’s hard to understand why you can’t have the same toys the other kids have,” he said. “I don’t want to be the one to tell my son he can’t have those things.”

With Apperson’s contribution and a sack of wrapped gifts from the Giving Tree, Brandon will get a healthy pile of presents like any other child.

“I’m really grateful,” Apperson said. “It makes all the difference.”

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(East Ventura Edition, B8) FYI

Members of the public who would like to donate new toiletries, toys or cash to the Marines & Friends’ Operation Cuddles at Camarillo State Hospital and Developmental Center may do so by calling 523-9523.