TERROR IN OKLAHOMA CITY : From O.C. to O.C.: A Wide Outpouring of Generosity : Assistance: Members of a Tustin Scientology church organization fly to Oklahoma City to offer help. County residents send goods, cash and donate blood.

For the past few days, Belinda Mason Wiatt’s heart has been in Oklahoma City.

And on Friday, the Tustin resident and about 10 other members of her church boarded a plane to Oklahoma, where they planned to help victims deal with the shock of the explosion.

“We know that they’re upset and we want to be there for them,” she said. “Over and beyond that, we will wait to see what’s needed of us.”

The volunteers from the Church of Scientology Organization of Orange County, which also assisted Laguna Beach residents after the 1993 firestorm, were among a throng of local people who wanted to assist families shaken by Wednesday’s devastating blast at the federal building in Oklahoma City.

“This has really affected people everywhere,” Wiatt said, “because we all know that it could have been one of us in that building.”

Gaye Gwynn, spokeswoman for the Orange County Teachers’ Federal Credit Union, said about 45 employees donated $1,500 to credit union members in Oklahoma City, where explosives in a truck knocked down nearly half of the nine-story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

Upon hearing that the building’s third-floor credit union office might have been destroyed, Gwynn sent a computer message via e-mail to about 450 employees. Many responded with donations averaging $35, she said.

“I’m overwhelmed by the generosity,” Gwynn said.

*

Another county resident handed over $1,000 check to Shabbir Mansuri, who is organizing the Muslim community’s relief effort. Mansuri planned to ship thousands of dollars’ worth of canned foods, clothes and toiletries to the region today to be distributed to victims by Muslim organizations there.

“What has happened in Oklahoma is painful for all of us,” Mansuri said. “We are all one family, and when one of us gets hurt, the rest of us have a responsibility to help.”

At the Santa Ana office of the American Red Cross, people stood in longer-than-usual lines to donate blood, although they were told that their blood “may not go to the people of Oklahoma,” said Judy Iannacconi, a spokeswoman for the relief agency. Some blood types reached 32% above the desired level, she said.

Salvation Army workers also collected donations, mostly cash, for the nonprofit organization’s Operation Compassion, which it launched Thursday to respond to the bombing. A donation total was not available Friday.

“We’re still getting many many calls,” said Warren Johnson, assistant coordinator for the Salvation Army in Orange County.

While security at government buildings remained high countywide, so did anxiety among workers and visitors.

About 50% of the 178 children at the Ziggurat Child Development Center in the Chet Holifield Federal Building were absent Friday, employees said. The building that was destroyed Wednesday also contained a day-care center.

“We usually have more absentees on Fridays anyway,” said Shauna Boger, the Laguna Niguel center’s director. “But this has been an especially hard week and I guess people needed a three-day weekend.”

*

Though federal workers were still nervous about the Oklahoma City explosion, many expressed relief that suspects have been apprehended.

“This has been a tough week, and let’s just say I was very glad that an arrest was made before the week ended,” said Charlie Almanza, assistant chief deputy U.S. marshal. “We’ll see what next week brings us.”