From the Daily Breeze
December 26, 2002
MUSTANG SANTAS
DONATIONS: South Bay car club surpasses its goal to spread holiday cheer to Children at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
By Josh Grossberg
DAILY BREEZE
There aren't any chimneys at County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, so Santa arrived in a shiny red Ford Mustang instead.
In fact, a handful of Santas showed up in several vintage Mustangs overflowing with presents for children who had to spend Christmas at the hospital near Torrance.
The members of the Beach Cities Mustang Club had so many toys that they handed them out two and three at a time to surprised and delighted children.
"The idea was to do something for kids who might not have a decent Christmas," said 64-year old Bill Ivey of Los Angeles. "It feels good to help someone less fortunate."
The group has been giving away toys every Christmas for seven years. Up until last year, it was a small-time affair with maybe a hundred toys to give away.
But after receiving 150 presents last year, they decided to get ambitious and shoot for 300 this year. With the help of Sunset Ford in Westminster they reached their goal and then some.
By Wednesday morning they had more than 1,000 toys to distribute. "You don't realize till you get here what it's all about," said Jon Schultz, a founder of the group who organized the event.
While the hospital tried to send as many kids home as possible for the holiday, a few were unable to leave. And others arrived at the pediatric emergency room for a variety of ills.
"It's really the first time I've ever done something like this, 'said Pete Schramm of Lomita. "If you're in a position to do something like this, it's a nice thing to do."
After a morning stop at an Orange County hospital, they arrived at Harbor-UCLA near Torrance because Schultz said he feels a connection with the South Bay.
"We've been based in Redondo Beach, he said. "We [have] our meetings in Torrance. That's the heart of our club."
Rachel Hunt, the Child Life director at the medical center, said the gifts would be greatly appreciated by the kids, especially since county budget woes meant that there wouldn't be much money available for luxuries like toys. "We really rely on donations," she said. "We have limited funds for toys. Traditional children's hospitals get a lot of donations, but we don't get noticed as much.
"We use them for when they leave or end chemotherapy," Hunt said.
"This will keep our storage closet full. The kids need more than just medicine to get well. They need someone to bring in just the toy."
Mirian Aceves brought her 9-year old daughter Elia to the emergency room because she had a stomachache. But when she saw the two stretchers piled with toys being pushed down the hall, her face lit up.
"Oh my goodness," Mirian said as her daughter picked out Barbies and other toys until her arms overflowed. "She's already feeling much better. She's going to love coming here."
"Three-year old Joshua Rodriquez bumped his head and got a nasty cut across his eyebrow. Tears ran down his round face while his father held him. But after he picked out a stuffed Muppet in a Santa Claus suit, he smiled.
"Thank you, thank you," said his surprised father Jose. "This is so nice of you."
It was a long tiring day, but before it was finished, visions of Christmas future began to dance in Schultz's head.
"Next year, we're going to get serious," he said.
