Day Program Adults Donate Toys, Food

Showing their commitment to a community that has given them so much, 45 adults with developmental disabilities presented 160 handmade toys and 600 food items to needy families on Wednesday.

The adults, who are enrolled in day programs at the United Cerebral Palsy/Spastic Children’s Foundation donated the items to staff members of United Methodist Church of Sepulveda during a brief ceremony at the foundation’s Gloria Avenue headquarters.

The church will distribute the items to poor families through its children’s programs and food pantry, organizers said.

“These guys wanted to give something to children, especially at Christmastime,” said Wendy Odom, program consultant at the foundation. “Everyone can help someone. It doesn’t matter what you look like or how you get around.”

Day program participants decided to donate the handmade toys to the church rather than sell them to raise money for activities because they wanted the children to have something for Christmas, said Martine Alcidas, who coordinated the effort.

They also agreed to collect food items for the church’s food pantry and free breakfast program, she said.

Despite their physical limitations, the disabled adults have worked since September, crocheting hats, blankets and scarves, sewing stuffed animals and fashioning coin banks out of papier-mache, Alcidas said.

They gathered the food items by placing collection boxes in local businesses, she said. Some people even donated their own money to purchase food for the drive.

At Wednesday’s ceremony, it was clear that the group’s efforts were appreciated.

“We live in a poor neighborhood and our children are very needy,” the Rev. Jim Hamilton, the church’s pastor, told the crowd gathered in the activity room for the presentation.

“Because you guys have hearts of gold,” he said, “they will have food to eat and toys to play with.”

Several people said they feel a special sense of satisfaction when they are able to give, rather than receive.

Day program member Leigh Baker said: “When you give from the heart, it gives you a good feeling, and you get back much more than you give.”