MAJOR HEADACHE: Many are donating food or...

MAJOR HEADACHE: Many are donating food or clothing during the holidays for the homeless or poor. But the critical shortage, says Jim Palmer of the Orange County Rescue Mission: aspirin. . . . “The need is so incredible,” he says, because of the cold and flu season. “We need 5,000 bottles of aspirin, Tylenol and vitamins.” The mission’s mobile health vehicle delivers the medicine but has only a short supply. Palmer estimates 5,000 bottles would last through the winter.

MADE IN THE SHADE: In a break from the waves, members of the Doheny Longboard Assn., are building a palapa at the Doheny State Beach. That’s a traditional hut covered in palm fronds, commonly found on South Sea island beaches. They’re donating the $4,000 cost of the eight-sided structure--20 feet wide, 17 feet high. It’s for anybody’s use. . . . “There’s no place on the beach there that you can get out of the sun,” says its president, Steve Stirrett. “Doheny is sort of our home, so we wanted to do something nice for our home.”

CEMENT POND: Rosa Sarabia of Fullerton has filled her swimming pool with dirt and sand and sealed it with cement. It’s all for her Nativity scene, so elaborate it’s drawing hundreds of visitors nightly. . . . Sarabia says it’s a tradition she grew up with near Guadalajara, Mexico. It outgrew her garage, where she had displayed it each Christmas for the neighbors. . . . The pool can’t be restored, but that’s OK, she says: “Nobody uses it anymore anyway.”

GOOD SLURP: Police in some cities have given youngsters food coupon rewards for wearing bicycle helmets. In Tustin, they’re going a step further. . . . Starting today, the police there will hand out about $8,000 in coupons for free Slurpee drinks at local convenience stores to any youngster doing anything deemed worthwhile. Says Lt. Frank Semelsberger: “It can be anything from helping a stranded motorist to showing friendship to strangers. It’s an effort to cut down on crime and reinforce positive behavior.”