Continuing a Family Legacy of Helping County's Needy : Charity: Southwest Community Center is one of several places where volunteers will be dishing up holiday spirit.

Continuing a Family Legacy of Helping County’s Needy : Charity: Southwest Community Center is one of several places where volunteers will be dishing up holiday spirit.

By TINA NGUYEN

Dec. 24, 1994 12 AM PT

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

SANTA ANA — Continuing her grandmother’s legacy of goodwill, Connie J. Jones, 42, has been serving Christmas dinners to the needy for the past 22 years at Southwest Community Center.

Founded in 1969, the program grew from a food and clothes distribution center out of her grandmother’s garage to a full social service agency now assisting about 660 regular clients, Jones said.

“I’ve been doing this since high school because it’s rewarding to try to help those in desperate need,” said Jones, the center’s executive director.

Along with the center, a number of other organizations and agencies will open their doors this Christmas weekend, offering turkey dinners, baskets of groceries and toys to those less fortunate.

After organizing parties for children, holiday adoption programs and gathering food drives and baskets, the Southwest Community Center will complete this year’s services Sunday with a Christmas lunch and care packages for the needy.

Although it was able to meet its budget for all planned projects, the center had to dig deep into its pockets this year because donations were low while needs were high, Jones said.

“This year has been one of our worst,” she said. “There were a lot more seniors in need than we’ve ever seen. We’ve spent $11,000 of our own cash reserves while only a third of our families were adopted.”

Yet, despite the lack of resources, Jones added, “We’ve had a lot of volunteers. People came in day after day to help out.”

At the Rescue Mission in Santa Ana, however, the donations and supplies were plentiful. Uncertain of the reason for the surplus in toys and goods, officials said they received 50% more donations than last year.

Prepared with 5,000 donated and wrapped presents and 2,600 blankets, the Rescue Mission will hold its annual gift giveaway today, starting at 8 a.m., at 1901 W. Walnut St. On Sunday, Christmas Day, officials expect to serve up to 600 turkey dinners and pass out 200 food boxes, supplied with 12-pound turkeys and a week’s worth of food for a family of four.

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Christmas Tidings

Here are some of the charitable organizations in Orange County serving Christmas meals and distributing food, clothes and toys this weekend:

ANAHEIM

* St. Boniface

Toy giveaway 9 a.m. to noon today

120 N. Janss St.

(714) 535-2742

FULLERTON

* Fullerton Armory

Shelter and meals beginning at 5:30 p.m. daily

400 Brookhurst St.