BUENA PARK / CYPRESS : Shopping Spree for Teenage Moms-to-Be

The Buena Park Rotary Club and Mervyn’s department store in Cypress arranged a shopping spree this week for a group of special customers: five pregnant teenagers.

The Rotary Club came up with the idea after learning of a counseling group for pregnant teenagers at Buena Park High School, club President Edward Marks said. The project is part of the club’s program for women in need, he said.

Each teen will get a $100 voucher and one hour to spend it.

“A group of us in Rotary will pick them up at their homes, take them to Mervyn’s and then take them back,” Marks said. “This is something we like to do.”

The service club and the retailer have sponsored sprees for children before, but the holiday outing for teen mothers-to-be is a new idea. The shoppers will have the store to themselves for an hour before it opens.

“I’m kind of excited to be able to help them out,” Mervyn’s store manager Laura Shinsky said. “They can do some uninterrupted shopping, and they won’t have to worry about standing in line.”