Volunteers keep gift giving going

Assistance League of Newport-Mesa’s thrift shop is repository of donated and refurbished toys.With Christmas and Hanukkah presents mostly unwrapped by now, gift givers are about to enter their idle season.

But for Charlotte Raffetto, the packaging and bow-tying is about to start up again. A 35-year member of the Assistance League of Newport-Mesa, she is in charge of the toy committee that prepares low-cost gifts for the league-run thrift shop.

Translation: It’s Raffetto who you’ll see playing with Barbie’s hair, dressing her in clothes, finding her a suitable dollhouse and then packaging everything for sale.

“I hope that people bought our items as Christmas gifts,” said Raffetto, a Newport Beach resident. “It’s fulfilling work. What we do doesn’t bring in a lot of revenue; it brings in a lot of goodwill.”

For decades, volunteers at the Assistance League of Newport-Mesa have worked to raise money for their community and offer a variety of free services.

The league provides dental care for low-income children and helps outfit needy school children each fall. A traveling puppet show teaches young students themes of tolerance.

The thrift shop, which started out on Lido Isle, is now located at 2220 Fairview Rd. in Costa Mesa and is open six days a week. Raffetto said the Newport-Mesa chapter of the Assistance League is one of the few across the country that still sells toys at the shop. Money raised goes into funding the league’s other programming.

Each Wednesday, toy committee members take stock of donated items. They price them, sort through them and often package them inside bags or boxes. All of the members are longtime Assistance Leaguers.

Each October, Raffetto takes home all the Barbie-related items -- the clothes, the shoes the accessories -- and places the outfitted Barbie in a plastic baggie so it’s ready for sale.

She estimates she handles about 150 Barbie dolls per year. Most sell for $3 or $5 at the thrift shop.

“We don’t put out anything that’s dirty or ripped or broken,” Raffetto said. “It’s really quite a deal for those who need quality gifts.”

Her job doesn’t stop at dolls. She helps manage donated puzzles and other small gifts. When it comes to stuffed animals, though, that’s Eleanore Norton’s domain.

Norton, a Costa Mesa resident, has cleaned and restored previously-owned stuffed animals for nearly 20 years. She takes the donated items and works her cosmetic magic.

“It’s extremely fun,” Norton said. “We all remember playing with the old toys that come in. Anything that makes noise ends up being a huge distraction.”

Both Norton and Raffetto are on the lookout for expensive or valuable donated toys all year round. They are kept in storage until major holidays, when the toy committee likes to present its finest items.

* The store opens again Jan. 3.

For more information, contact (949) 645-5536.

20051227is4s10ncWENDI KAMINSKI / DAILY PILOT(LA)Charolette holds the Barbie dolls that she has given a makeover.