Readers Open Hearts and Wallets to the Needy : THE POOR AMONG US: <i> A Follow Up Report : </i>

Moved by compassion for the less fortunate, more than 150 readers called The Times Orange County Edition and local anti-poverty agencies this week with offers of assistance for families profiled in a five-day series on the county’s poor.

Readers offered thousands of dollars in cash donations and pledges to some of those featured. Others called with promises of food bags, shoes, bicycles, skates, toys, turkeys and even free counseling.

“There is a responsive community in this county,” said Karen McGlinn, executive director of Share Our Selves, a Costa Mesa nonprofit agency. “Sometimes we just need the bell rung a bit.”

Nonprofit agencies also reported receiving increased numbers of telephone calls, including offers to help those mentioned in the series as well as others. More than 30 people called Irvine Temporary Housing, a nonprofit agency that tries to prevent homelessness, said Margie Wakeham, its executive director.

Some callers were motivated by the articles to “adopt” a family for the holidays, providing them with gifts and food, Wakeham said. Others simply wanted to discuss the issue of poverty here, exploring with the agency’s officials how best to help the needy in a community widely known for its affluence.

But a handful of readers reacted angrily, saying they believe that many poor people, including some mentioned in the series, continue to abuse the system designed to help them.

“What a liberal piece of crap,” wrote John Gibbons of Santa Ana, in reference to the first day’s stories.

Carol Matheis of Foothill Ranch was incensed by a look at poverty in the county’s Cambodian immigrant community. “I have a solution to their worries about welfare cutbacks: Get A Job!!!!” she wrote.

McGlinn said calls are up sharply this week, some apparently in response to the series and others to the agency’s annual donation appeal. Many were first-time corporate donors, she said.

The vast majority of those who wrote or telephoned The Times about the series expressed concern and empathy for the county’s poor. Many said they were chagrined to learn of the needy among their neighbors.

Henia Ruiz, a manager at an Anaheim fast-food restaurant, said she and several friends would donate a box of food for Barbara Purks, 64, of Midway City, who was featured in a story on the county’s elderly poor. Purks often skips dinner to stay within her budget.

“We’re all having a hard time too, but we want to make sure she has some food,” Ruiz said. “We can do that.”

Several said they hoped to give sneakers to Dee Dupree, another elderly woman in the series who can’t afford a new pair of tennis shoes.

“This woman really hit me and my husband hard today,” said Sally O’Day. The Garden Grove woman and her husband, Bill Grizzell, sent Dupree a $50 gift certificate to a department store.

Drew Ingram, a single mother in Irvine whose story prompted more than 60 offers of help, said she and her children have been touched and overwhelmed by the caring response.

With the more than $300 already donated, Ingram said she plans to pay an overdue bill and restore her phone service, which was cut off in July.

“I’m so grateful for this,” she said.

The help offered to the Ingrams ranges from sports tickets to shopping sprees, gift certificates to food and cleaning supplies. Boy Scout troops and Indian Guide tribes want to help the family, which includes boys aged 2, 6 and 11.

Gina Castaneda of Aliso Viejo drove to The Times Orange County Edition headquarters in Costa Mesa on Thursday to donate a bike her son had outgrown to 6-year-old David Ingram.

Drew Ingram’s plight, Castaneda said, “just really touched my heart. Being a mom of two boys myself, I just really wanted to do something for her. We started off with only a little too, and I know what it’s like to struggle.”

Grace Fisher of Mission Viejo sent this note: “I am especially moved by the brave efforts of Drew Ingram and would appreciate you getting the enclosed check to her for assistance with her Thanksgiving meal.”

But perhaps no one touched readers more than Nely Antonio, a dark-eyed 5-year-old whose dream of seeing Disneyland had seemed a distant hope.

After a story Wednesday about Nely and her parents--who work at low-paying jobs and must share a two-bedroom home with three other families--more than $1,300 poured in for members of the household.

The owners of the Watch Connection in Costa Mesa, a husband and wife who didn’t want their names used, wrote a check for $600 to Constantino and Berta Antonio, Nely’s parents, and the nine others who live with them. The husband said he was impressed by Constantino and Berta’s work ethic and desire to better their lives.

“I was moved by the fact that these people are here legally and working, but they’re falling through the cracks economically,” he said. “Both the Republicans and Democrats would agree with what these folks are doing. They’re an example of what makes a people, community and nation great.”

Another man who insisted on anonymity left $250 in cash for Nely, her parents and two cousins to carry them through the gates of the Magic Kingdom.

An accompanying note said simply: “Given in appreciation to a fine family. . . . The joy is in the giving.”

On Thursday, Berta Antonio said her family was grateful for the community’s support.

“We weren’t expecting this, but it came at a good time,” she said. “Constantino’s truck broke down last night, and he had to ride the bus to work this morning. We will use some of the money to get it fixed.”

Ruiz, the fast-food worker who will help feed Purks, said she was delighted to be able to help those less fortunate than herself, especially before the holidays.

“If all of us were to give just a little, there wouldn’t be so much suffering around us,” she said. “We can all help, at least a little.”