Help us help ‘Santa Comes to Agoura’

By Stephanie Bertholdo Acorn Staff Writer

Santa’s helpers are hard at work preparing for Santa’s arrival at the Do-It Center parking lot in Agoura Hills on Sat., Dec. 6 to culminate the annual "Santa Comes to Agoura and Beyond" campaign. Santa will forgo his nighttime sleigh ride and arrive by helicopter at 9:30 a.m.

The program helps as many struggling families as possible during the holiday season, as well as sick children in hospitals, AIDS patients, adults with cerebral palsy and adults with Down syndrome.

Oak Park resident and Agoura/Las Virgenes Optimist Club member George Annino launched the annual Santa Comes to Agoura program 24 years ago to help local families down on their luck due to illness, loss of employment and other unforeseen circumstances.

The first goal is providing food, but other items are also needed, such as toiletries (soap, toilet tissue, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes) and other staples (laundry and dishwasher detergents, fabric softener, household cleaning products, etc.).

New unwrapped toys are also desperately needed.

With so many people in need, however, Annino expanded the program last year to reach more people in outlying areas, from "East L.A. to West Oxnard," he said. "It has gone way beyond," Annino said.

Although the yearly event has always been successful, Annino expressed concern about this year. He said that although donations and pledges are down 50 to 75 percent so far from last year, he’s hopeful that organizations that have recently been contacted will eventually come through.

The Acorn Newspapers are helping in a volunteer subscription program. To subscribe, a form can be found on page 4. Forty percent of the $15 annual subscription rate will go to Santa Comes to Agoura and Beyond.

Many local businesses and schools will be accepting donations of canned food and other items.

Annino explained that the drive benefits local families first. Battered women and children, victims of AIDs and children confined to hospital beds during the holidays are also high priorities.

Annino stressed that the program isn’t affiliated with any religious group. He added that his team of volunteers has no overhead and no payroll, so "100 percent of the donations go directly to the people who need it most.

"The program is about people helping out people," Annino said. The identity of needy recipients comes from family members and friends. He and his volunteers receive calls on behalf of people who have sick children or are facing other setbacks in their lives. Churches, temples and schools are other sources of referrals. The identities of both parties are kept strictly confidential.

When a gift is delivered to a sick child, all of the children in the family get a present, according to Annino. "Even if there are four children in the family, I make sure that every child gets a gift," he said.

The goal, said Annino, is to deliver 15 bags of groceries to each family, including a turkey and $50 worth of scrip to a local grocery store.

Organizations that benefit from the yearly event include Many Mansions, a food pantry in Thousand Oaks, the Los Angeles Optimists Boys Club, Rancho San Antonio Boys and Girls Home in Chatsworth, Ronald McDonald House, Olive View Hospital in Sylmar and others.

Teddy bears are also collected for local sheriff’s and fire stations to give to children for comfort when they’ve been the victim of a crime, fire or other stressful event.

Balloons and face painting will be available for children at the Do-It Center on Sat. morning, Dec. 6. The site is just east of Whizin’s Shopping Center, east of Kanan Road, between Agoura Road and Roadside Drive in Agoura Hills. The Brookside Elementary School chorus will be singing a variety of holiday tunes and other activities are planned. Volunteers will be sorting and bagging donations throughout the morning.

Tax deductible checks can be endorsed to the Agoura Optimist Club/Santa. Mail them to 6602 Maplegrove Street, Oak Park, 91377.

For further information on how to help local families or to become a volunteer, please call (818) 991-1732.