Serving the less fortunate

Susan McCormack

While many preach that the holiday season is more than a time for

receiving gifts and eating goodies, Corona del Mar resident Jennifer

Wilde has made it her goal to prove it.

Five years ago, Wilde took it upon herself to collect about 1,000 stuffed

animals and take them to poor children in Mexico on Christmas Day. She

enlisted the help of her two daughters, then ages 5 and 9, to distribute

the toys.

“I don’t have much of an extended family, and I wanted to do something to

... make Christmas meaningful for my kids and other kids for the rest of

their lives,” she said. “The kids here have thousands of presents. They

just open one and go on to the next.”

Wilde’s church, Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Newport Beach, became

involved in the efforts a couple of years ago.

The assistant pastor, Bill Faris, said the church provides money, to

purchase the stuffed animals, along with supplies and manpower for

preparing the gifts. He said projects like this help people realize how

well off they are in the United States.

“It’s really sobering,” Faris added.

Luis Armendariz, a fellow church member, has helped Wilde for the last

two years.

“I’m from Mexico, so I know the need,” said Armendariz, who emigrated

from Chihuahua. “There are a lot of kids there who go through the holiday

without having any toys.”

Wilde said this year her goal is to bring 6,000 stuffed animals to

Mexico.

She collects donations from her neighbors and church members to purchase

the majority of the new and used toys. Wilde has made a deal with

Children’s Hospital of Orange County and Goodwill Industries to buy the

toys for 50 cents each.Also, the project evolved from a one-family

operation to about 30 people who traveled down to Mexico last year. Wilde

said the procedure is the same, though the group now makes the trip a few

days before Christmas.

Each year, they drive to various places, though they try to hit Tecate

and Tijuana.

“We just drive in,” Wilde said. “We yell out the window, ‘Merry

Christmas’ and ‘Praise the lord.’ They come running up the streets, and

we hand the toys out the window, because we’re literally mobbed.”

“Their reaction is disbelief,” Armendariz said. “It’s like mana flowing

down from heaven.”

And heaven, the volunteers say, is what their mission is all about.

“The reason I’m doing this is so people will know about God,” Wilde said.

“If I wasn’t trying to serve God and do his will ... believe me, I

wouldn’t be doing this.”

Armendariz agreed, saying, “Without that, it’s just a toy.”

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FYI

If you’d like to become involved, call the Rev. Bill Faris at (714)

556-8463.