Food drive unites Agoura-Las Virgenes
By Steven Holt
Acorn Editor

CHUCK ROGERS/The Acorn 'SANTA COMES TO AGOURA'--Forty white doves are released, signifying a prayer for world peace during Saturday morning's 21st annual food drive for the Las Virgenes/Conejo Valley areas.

A sunny brisk December morning last Saturday greeted hundreds of local residents and civic-minded service groups that gathered at the Do It Center in Agoura Hills to collect, bag and distribute hundreds of bags of groceries and toiletries for the needy.

It was a hustle-bustle of organized activity. Forklifts carefully moved about the throng, hauling pallets of food and other items collected at local schools and businesses.

The "Santa Comes to Agoura" food drive was reaching its apex.

Items were stacked by category in individual spaces of the parking lot. Beverages/water, detergents, toiletries, desserts/snack products, cereal/breakfast items, pasta, vegetables, sauces and dressings, beans and rice, soups, fruit and meat were separated.

Some of the groups that volunteered were recognizable by their uniforms. Cub and Boy Scouts, 4-H Clubs and the Oak Park High School Cheerleaders helped.

Among the early arrivers was George Annino of Oak Park, the driving force behind the annual event. He got there at 7:20 a.m.

"I don’t know where George gets his energy and vision, but I’m sure glad he does," said Agoura Hills City Councilman Denis Weber. "God bless him."

Annino spent much of his time thanking others.

Often the subject of Annino’s gratitude is his top assistant, Patti Wolfson. Santa Comes to Agoura, Wolfson said, takes months of hard work and planning. But it’s worth the effort, she said.

"It’s wonderful to see the people involved," Wolfson said. "Hopefully, we make a difference in people’s lives."

Annino at one point called his "Dream Team" to the microphone. The team is comprised of Wolfson, her mother, Shirley Wolfson, Dana Biederman, Linda Hofmann and Ann Housel. The Dream Team coordinated the food drive at local schools, among other responsibilities.

Jennifer Calabrese of Morrison Highlands, a senior at Chaminade High School, helped by painting the large backdrop for Santa.

Among Annino’s list of helpers were the Do It Center and Trader Joe’s, both major contributors in both products and services to the annual drive. Do It Center also provided the location and forklifts. Starbucks of Agoura Hills provided coffee and Trader Joe’s also provided water and cookies for the workers.

The L.A. County Sheriff’s and Fire Departments also helped. The sheriff’s department helicopter provided transportation for Santa Claus, whose reindeer are resting up for the main event in a few weeks. And the fire department also provided transportation.

Money Wise (a group of investors), the Birthday Girls and Helping Hands for Humanity were several other groups that Annino cited later as being extremely helpful to this year’s effort. The Agoura-Las Virgenes Optimist Club helped again.

Residents responded strongly to a late request for frozen turkeys.

Darlene Ingram of Westlake Village brought 25 birds from the Vons supermarket at Kanan Road and Thousand Oaks Boulevard. When she asked the meat manager, Brian Graf, if he’d honor some special prices offered on turkeys just before Thanksgiving, he asked about her worthy cause. Graf went ahead and donated for Vons 25 turkeys because he knew about the Santa Comes to Agoura food drive.

Tom McMahon of Westlake Village, Cub Scout Master for Pack 3785, summarized why the Scouts participate in Santa Comes to Agoura.

"It helps give them a better understanding about people less fortunate. It gets them involved," McMahon said.

Carolyn Purkey, advisor to the Oak Park cheerleaders, echoed his thoughts. Cheerleaders, she said, have a lot. The food drive gives them a chance to give back to the community and learn to be modest about Christmas and Hanukkah.

Regarding Annino and how he credits everyone else, Wolfson said Annino compliments others to deflect attention from himself. "He gives us the outlet to help others," she said.

The morning included musical entertainment, a prayer to bless the food, a release of white doves and the dramatic arrival of Santa with Emily Buelow, a 7-year-old girl from Calabasas who’s recovering from a relapse of leukemia.

Items generated from the 20th annual event will first go to local families, then to a battered women and children shelter in Ventura, to Christopher House (AIDS patients), to Rain Project (the homeless) and to Villa Esperanza (a facility for adults with Down’s syndrome).

See related story in community section.