Everything Must Go at El Toro, so Charities Helping Themselves

Amid the stacked chairs, desks, tables, dressers and sofas lined with military precision Wednesday in a Marine base warehouse at El Toro, two little gems drew a wide smile from Buddy Ray.

Ray, executive director of Orange County’s Community Development Council, nabbed them both: a popcorn machine and a multicolored snow-cone maker.

Within minutes, Ray had scoured the warehouse at the soon-to-be-closed Marine Corps Air Station and grabbed desks, chairs and a television that volunteers began loading into an Orange County Food Bank truck.

Ray was among members of 25 organizations serving the homeless who began picking through about 8,000 pieces of furniture, appliances, computers and other property provided free by the Marines, who will leave the base July 2.

The popcorn and snow-cone machines, Ray said, will be a hit with the children served by his group’s programs at El Modena Community Center in Orange and at community outreach events.

“This is really a godsend for us,” said Gloria Taylor of the Second Baptist Church’s Community Homeless Coalition as she stood dwarfed by rows of faux-wood bookshelves.

“It’s better than Nordstrom, and the price is right,” quipped a grateful Margie Wakeham, executive director of Families Forward Inc.

“It’s a shopping spree, minus the checkout stands,” said Charles V. Smith, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, which coordinated the giveaway with the Marines.

Federal procedures for closing military bases call for property no longer considered “mission-essential” to be distributed to local homeless programs and nonprofit groups. There is only one condition: The property must be used for client services for at least one year. After that, it can be sold.

County staff spent two years collecting the desks, lamps, refrigerators, videocassette players and furniture from barracks, hangers and office buildings at the 4,700-acre base. The property was cataloged and marked with neon-pink stickers.

Besides the standard items, there were some unusual options: treadmills and weight machines, stacks upon stacks of lawn chairs, outdoor tables and benches, gas barbecues, floor lamps and fans, medical and dental furniture and mini-bar-sized refrigerators.

The county’s homeless organizations were invited to participate in “shopping sprees” assigned by lottery. Each group is allowed to claim no more than 50 items in each trip, with no more than 10 of one type of item and no more than one “specialty” item, like a computer or sofa.

The first shopping excursions began Wednesday. Other trips will be scheduled until everything is distributed, county officials said.

The items will help improve housing for the homeless in several Orange County transitional living programs, Wakeham said, giving a boost to families that desperately need help. The donations also will free other money that would have been spent on furniture and appliances for more direct assistance.

“When we can increase the hope of our families, we can increase their ability to help themselves,” she said.

Col. Steve Mugg, commanding officer at El Toro, said the giveaway is one way for the Marines to give back to the community they have been part of for 50 years.

“This is a great demonstration of what the federal government and the local government can do,” he said.

The county plans to convert the base into an international airport handling more than 28 million passengers a year by 2020.