‘It’s Food for My Soul,’ a Volunteer Says of Her Service at Emergency Shelter for Abused Children

Mary Perkins, a grandmother of eight, plays mom to scores of children each week at Orangewood Children’s Home in Orange, where she dispenses smiles, hugs and love to abused kids.

“It’s food for my soul,” she said. “Their eyes light up when they see you. You are a high point in their day.”

She paused, before adding with a laugh, “They are usually happier to see me than my own grandchildren.”

Perkins, 57, of Anaheim Hills, is one of 120 volunteers who work with the abused children in temporary residence at Orangewood, the largest 24-hour emergency children’s shelter in the state at 216 beds. Volunteers give the children, who range from infants to teenagers, a healthy dose of comfort, affection and consistency--items in limited supply at home.

Rick Bazant, director of community programs, said an act as simple as holding a young child’s hand while watching the “Lion King” is something many of the children have never experienced.

“The kid will cuddle up to them and say, ‘Be careful. A scary part is coming up,’ ” Bazant said. “You see that once and you never forget.”

Perkins spends about 20 hours a week at Orangewood, usually dressed in jeans and a casual shirt, clothes that can stand up to any punishment a toddler can dish out.

“I make sure I wear clothes that kids can get paint on or throw up on or withstand whatever happens,” said Perkins, who has been volunteering for eight years. “Believe me, it all happens.”

Among her volunteer duties: reading “Goodnight Moon” again and again, brushing the tangles out of girls’ hair, and letting kids climb into her lap for an old-fashioned snuggle.

“The kids are really just after love,” she said. “And consistency. It’s so important to them.”

Most children arrive at the temporary shelter after major troubles at home: neglect, physical or emotional abuse, poverty, molestation. Their average stay is 16 days before they are returned home or placed with relatives or in foster families, group homes or psychiatric hospitals.

The shelter is seeking donations of unwrapped presents for the holidays, along with more volunteers.

“We appreciate all presents and donations, but the greatest gift is having people interact with the kids,” Bazant said. “That’s what they really want.”

Because Orangewood is funded by the county, all donations go directly to the children’s needs.

The Los Angeles Times is highlighting local programs and organizations such as Orangewood that address needs of youths and families in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

Last year, the paper established The Times Holiday Campaign to help raise money for programs in Southern California.

The program is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, which includes The Times’ long-running Summer Camp Program.

The McCormick Tribune Foundation will match the first $500,000 in donations at 50 cents on the dollar, and The Times will absorb administrative costs.

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