HOLIDAY DRIVE: Blood donations decline during the...

HOLIDAY DRIVE: Blood donations decline during the holidays, which also mark the cold and flu season. So the local American Red Cross chapter has come up with a new way to combat the problem--by staying open on a holiday. . . . You can donate blood today from 7:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. at 24731-A Alicia Parkway in Laguna Hills, or 1715 Euclid St. in Fullerton. “Members of our staff are putting aside their own holiday plans,” says donor spokeswoman Cheryle Babbitt. . . . Maybe, she says, you could look at it as a new way to give thanks.

GOING TO THE MALL: Today’s Thanksgiving dinner at Westminster Mall’s Cafe 405 is put on by the mall and the Westminster Shelter for the Homeless. But you don’t have to be homeless to join the event, now in its sixth year. . . . “It’s for seniors, people who are just lonely, anybody who doesn’t want to be alone on the holiday,” says shelter spokeswoman Judy Kampmann. . . . Turkey and the trimmings will be served to 400 people--with music by the Salvation Army Quartet.

JUDGED GOOD: When Marianne Gillispie of Orange wanted to finance publication of her own book of poetry about child abuse, she got help she hadn’t expected. Juvenile Court Commissioner Frank Gould shelled out $1,200 from his own pocket. . . . Reason: Gillispie is a volunteer for the county’s Child Abuse Services Team, which he strongly supports, and she was donating all profits to it. When all 1,000 copies of the book were sold, she tried to pay him back. But Gould told her to just put it toward her next book, due out soon. . . . Says the commissioner: “I see it as an investment in our kids.”

BEAUTY & HEALTH: Almost all spousal abuse victims suffer loss of self-esteem, says Demi Vitanza. She’s been there. “It took me a long time to get mine back,” she says. . . . Through Vitanza’s influence, her employer, Giatano’s Hair Styling in Anaheim Hills, began this week providing two free make-overs a week to women at the Eli Home for abused women. . . . It will be the works: hair, makeup, nutrition advice. . . . Says Vitanza: “The first step for these women is to start feeling good about themselves. And I’ll help them do it.”