450 Kids to Get $75 to Buy Clothes, Shoes

Back-to-school shopping trips will be provided for 450 children Saturday morning during an annual program of the Salvation Army and Mervyn’s Department Stores in Orange County.

The children, who will be attending grade school this fall, will be treated to $75 worth of clothing and footwear. Volunteer chaperons will help the children with their purchase decisions.

“The chaperons try to help the kids stretch their budgets by not buying one pair of $60 tennis shoes,” Salvation Army spokeswoman Pam Abrahamsson said.

“Each year it’s a different batch of kids, because there’s such a need out there,” Abrahamsson said. “Mostly all they’ve had to wear their whole lives are hand-me-downs.”

Money for the shopping spree is provided by numerous donors and by matching grants from Mervyn’s. The children were selected by the Salvation Army’s family services program.

The participating Mervyn’s stores are in Anaheim, Cypress, Foothill Ranch, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo and Tustin.

Information on the shopping spree is available from program director Dolores Barrett at (714) 832-7100.