Bears and hugs

As officer Marcus Lindberg handed 8-year-old Ana Garfias a giant green stuffed animal shaped like a frog, she offered a faint smile of thanks.

Garfias was hospitalized for a hand injury she had suffered at school and was one of the many children in the pediatric ward of Valley Medical Center receiving a stuffed animal to hug and cuddle this holiday season. The West Valley­Mission Community College District police distributed between 400 and 500 new and gently used stuffed animals and teddy bears to children in hospitals this year. This is the ninth year the district police have organized a teddy bear drive, said Chief of Police Laura Lorman.

"It's a tough time for a kid to be in a hospital, so we want to do anything we can to make it more comfortable for them," said Cheryl Dewey, nurse manager for the pediatric and intensive care unit.

Lindberg delivered between 70 and 80 stuffed creatures for children to the pediatric playroom of the hospital on Dec. 12, in addition to deliveries to the Domestic Violence Shelter of Santa Clara County and the county's Child Protective Services children's shelter.

Due to the greater-than-anticipated generosity of students, faculty, staff and the community, the district police officers had enough stuffed animals to present to a local women's shelter as well. In many instances of domestic violence, children must leave their homes so quickly they leave their toys behind.

Lindberg said they've had overwhelming support during the drive from Saratoga residents, as well as employees and faculty at West Valley and Mission community colleges. He also added that the used stuffed animals went through a strenuous safety check before distribution. Many of the stuffed animals came in plastic bags or still had tags on them.

"We have piles of stuffed animals about five feet high; you have to climb over the piles to get to the fax machine," Lindberg said.

Julie Doyle, a child life therapist in play therapy at the hospital, said teddy bears and stuffed critters in general are good playmates for children.

"They are the source of great comfort, not just their soft fuzziness, but being able to talk to and sleep with them," Doyle said.

Feliz Navidad

The Flying Doctors is a diverse group of medical professionals and volunteers who provide free health care and education to rural villages in Mexico. Now the role of the Flying Doctors has been expanded and enhanced with the addition of the Comunidad Program.

"The role of Comunidad is to provide medical, dental and educational programs for the people of the indigenous tribes and the orphanage," said Tom Hogan, president of Comunidad.

Many have stepped in to offer help to this worthy cause—Saratoga and Los Gatos high schools, Raymond J. Fisher Middle School and Blossom Hill, Daves Avenue, Louise Van Meter, Lexington and Lakeside elementary schools, as well as Hillbrook School and Girls' Middle School in Mountain View.

The Comunidad Program is providing health services to about 480 indigenous children from 10 tribes and one orphanage in northern Baja California.

As part of the "Escuela-a-Escuela" or the school-to-school aspect of the holiday program, students from local schools are matched up with the indigenous children.

"Every school is sponsoring a certain number of children from each tribe," said Hogan, a former vice president of marketing at Oracle Corporation. Saratoga High School is sponsoring the most children, with 141.

Hogan will lead a group of about 15 to 20 volunteers, including eight drivers, who will deliver the gifts personally during a visit to Baja California from Dec. 26 to 30. Of the 10 tribes receiving donations, Hogan said only three have electricity. There are no paved roads or medical facilities, and running water and education systems are erratic at best. The tribes are also plagued with malnutrition.

Saratoga High School student body president Grace Hsu said the school raised $1,700 for Comunidad. Since every student has a third-period class, envelopes were sent to all third-period classrooms with a letter explaining the school's goal of raising $50 or more per class. Once the money was collected, Hsu and other student body officers went on a shopping extravaganza.

"It was a sight to see five carts filled to the brim with pants, shirts, toys and shampoo bottles," Hsu said. "We definitely surprised the cashiers." Hsu said the children would also receive hygiene kits, courtesy of local dentists. In addition, the high school organized multiple drives—for canned food, warm coats and teddy bears, as well as aid to victims in the Southern California fires.

Once the holiday drive is over, phase two of Comunidad begins. Comunidad volunteers will visit Los Gatos and Saratoga students, showing them slides of children receiving their presents. And local teachers will be educating their students about the living conditions of the children in Baja California.

"The students will vote on how to stay engaged in the lives of the children," Hogan said.

Phase three of Comunidad involves a four-day medical mission during which doctors and dentists visit the villages and offer their services. Each person will be set up with a medical record and X-rays file; a clinic will be built to house the records.

Part three, or "Salud" (which means "health" in Spanish), is the core of Comunidad, Hogan said. During this program phase, volunteers fluent in Spanish serve as advocates for the indigenous people and represent their needs.

Hogan said the Comunidad holiday program has the spirit of giving involved, but it is not all-inclusive of the needs of the tribes.

"It's the most heartwarming, but the least meaningful," Hogan said. This year's Comunidad Program has been an overwhelming success, but the holiday giving won't end once Christmas is over.

Helping the homeless

The homeless and those barely getting by are in many people's thoughts this time of year; it is cold and their needs are many. Saratoga has many organizations pitching in to help, with one particular group of participants being teenagers.

Popular culture may lead some to believe that teenagers are only concerned with music and clothes, but the Homeless Relief Association of Saratoga High School proves otherwise. This particular service organization has been in existence for more than seven years and currently has about 15 to 20 students involved, said co-president Ben Dines, a senior.

They do several projects a year, two specifically geared toward the holidays. One is a teddy bear drive during which stuffed animals are collected and given to a San Jose homeless shelter. The main office of the school is brimming with huge trash bags of donated items.

Once school was out for the holidays, club members delivered the gifts to the shelter for distribution. The club also helped out with dinner at the shelter earlier this month. Members cooked, served and cleaned up.

Dines has been with the club two years and has particularly enjoyed getting to know the various directors of the shelters. As co-president, he's responsible for much of the scheduling and organizing that goes along with running a club.

Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church in Saratoga will also be remembering the homeless this Christmas. The church hosted two holiday dinners at the Sunnyvale armory in December, serving a traditional turkey with stuffing and all the trimmings, said Ann Worobey, who has been the church's charity coordinator for 43 years.

They also adopted three families for Christmas—two locally and one as part of Project Mexico and St. Innocent Orthodox Orphanage in Tijuana. Names are picked and selected gifts are given; the gifts are age appropriate and geared toward specific requests. The children frequently ask for shoes or toys, the adults a blanket. Staples such as flour and cereal are included as well as goodies like fresh fruit.

Realtors for Christmas

Some would say that the greatest gift of all is the gift of giving—at least Saratogans Hadi and Bobbie Ghafouri of Coldwell Banker feel that way. In addition to their enthusiastic entrepreneurial spirit, they're known for their philanthropic deeds, especially around the holiday season.

In early December the couple opened their Saratoga home to more than 100 clients for a night of delectable dishes, fine wine and music. As an added surprise, a belly dancer shook things up a bit, too.

The house itself was a sight to see. Decorations and an ornament-adorned Christmas tree brought a festive and holiday spirit to the event. Even more impressive was a pile of thick jackets, sweaters, blankets and other items accumulating in a corner of the living room as the night wore on.

For more than 10 years the Ghafouris have been throwing holiday parties not only to thank their loyal clients for their support, but also to give back to the community. By the early morning hours, about 45 large bags of clothing and other items such as toys and fabric were collected for the Saratoga Community Center and a battered-women's shelter in San Jose.

"Our living room was filled with donated items," Bobbie said. "It was hard to even walk around."

Mike and Janet James, who attended the event, said it was a great way to help the less fortunate.

Bill Clark, another longtime client, was looking like Santa Claus when he attended the party with his wife, Karen. He didn't have the red suit or the white beard, but instead had two large bags of blankets over his shoulder.

"We have plenty while others have needs," said Bill. "We're just blessed to be able to give."

As the week continued, the Ghafouris received even more donations from friends, clients and neighbors not able to attend the event.

"They kept coming," Hadi said. "It's great to see so many people in the giving spirit. It brings tears to my eyes."

According to Bobbie, it took about four separate trips and more than a half-dozen cars to transport the items to the designated organizations.

Breakfast With Santa

Christmas came early for approximately 150 preschoolers and kindergartners at Washington Elementary School, with a special visit from old St. Nicholas and a band of Saratoga Rotary members on Dec. 13.

Approximately 50 Saratogans helped coordinate Breakfast with Santa, an annual event held at the low-income school.

There was something for everyone. The sound of laughter and chatter echoed throughout the school's youth center from 10 a.m. to noon as children gathered around benches, talking to one another and coloring while waiting for the balloon artists to make their way to each child. The most exciting part of the event, everyone agreed, was a present from Santa.

Kindergartner Desiree Ritchie said she's happy with her Play-Doh set.

"It's my favorite part of Christmas," she said.

Gifts included dress-up dolls, paint sets, boxes of colored chalk for miniature chalkboards and magic sketch boards.

"We tried to buy toys that were fun and educational," said Rotarian Gordon Case, who spent two hours shopping at Big Lots with his wife for the gifts. "The most rewarding part is seeing the children's faces when they open their presents."

Larry Hester, chairman of the event, said he looks forward to putting on Breakfast with Santa every year.

"It's a lot of work, but it's also a privilege and a pleasure," Hester said. "It's instant gratification to see the kids so happy."

Several local businesses offered their support, too. Willow Street donated coloring materials to all of the students, and Safeway provided a healthy snack of drinks and apples to go with the pizza donated by Saratoga Village Caterers. Big Lots donated $50 worth of toys and the owner of the Chevron gas station on Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, also a Rotarian, donated 20 toy-car sets to the event.

"It's so easy to find people who want to help out with the event," Hester said. "That's what the holidays are about—giving."

Mark Lopez, the outreach consultant for the school, agreed that the joy is in seeing the smiles on the children's faces.

"For some of these kids, this is the only gift they're going to get," said Lopez. "The Saratoga Rotary is a blessing to this community. We're fortunate to have them."