Huntington Beach children receive hundreds of sneakers, backpacks in back-to-school giveaway
Ismael Vivar of Huntington Beach, 10, smiled as he grasped the sneakers in his hands on Monday afternoon.
The shoes were the colorful Adidas Superstar collaboration with Sean Witherspoon, dubbed “Super Earth.”
Ismael, an incoming fifth-grader at Oak View Elementary School, didn’t hesitate when asked if he would wear them often.
“Yeah, I will,” he said. “They look cool.”
He was one of hundreds of happy kids at the Oak View Family Resource Center where Toyota of Huntington Beach held its sixth annual backpacks and shoes giveaway in partnership with the Huntington Beach Police Department.
Children from the Boys & Girls Clubs of Huntington Valley got first selection of a backpack and pair of shoes, together valued at more than $60. Then, it was families from local nonprofit Oak View ComUNIDAD who could pick their supplies.
“We were going to do a different day for ComUNIDAD, but they showed up today,” said Jane D’Amelio, the philanthropy director for Wilson Automotive Group, which includes Toyota of Huntington Beach.
“We always prepare for extra,” she added with a smile. “I’d rather have more than less.”
The Oak View neighborhood, largely Latino and low-income, can be forgotten when some think of Surf City as a whole. But D’Amelio and Gina Paramo, who does community outreach for Toyota, make sure that events are held year-round for the community.
It’s personal for them, as they both described themselves as having been struggling teenage moms three decades ago.
Now Paramo said her daughter, Isabela, a longtime volunteer at the giveaways and recent Fountain Valley High graduate, is headed off to Arizona State in the fall — the first in her family — and also wants to continue in community service.
“We try to cover [Oak View] no matter what, whether it’s for Christmas, Easter, Back to School,” Gina Paramo said. “We even give our personal information out. If there’s someone here in the community that needs help, they’ll reach out to us.”
Two HBPD officers assisted in the giveaway, as did Hayley Yantorn, the police department’s community relations specialist.
Teffany Nowell, Family Resource Center coordinator, said the school supplies will make a huge difference for the working-class families.
“The thing is, a lot of our families have maybe five or seven children,” she said. “What they’re used to is hand-me-downs. One pair of these shoes can last a generation of kids. These families are very resourceful.”
D’Amelio said she and her team have been working hard to get donations and supplies. Monday’s event was the last of five that Toyota was hosting throughout Southern California this month, helping out more than 1,350 children and their families.
Daniel Balladares, who said he lives just across the street from the center, came to the giveaway with his 4-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter, holding his youngest child, a 6-month-old daughter, in his arms.
Balladares said giveaways like Mondays weren’t commonplace when he was growing up in Santa Ana.
“It’s a big help, especially for this community,” he said. “At the end of the day, we all stand as one and we all help each other. I know a lot of these parents, and they all come from childhoods that didn’t really have these events. To have these events for their children, it goes a long way.”
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