‘Bringing life to the kids’

Andrew Glazer

TECATE, Mexico -- He used to covertly run heroine, cocaine and marijuana

into the United States across this same border. He carried a bottle of

tequila in his hand, which he took slugs of to help numb his nerves as he

scurried through the hills, ducking behind boulders and scrub, avoiding

border patrol.

But that was more than 20 years ago.

On Wednesday, Pastor Jose Ramon Coronado of Costa Mesa’s La Vina Church

-- joined by seven volunteers -- carried a stash of more than 4,000

stuffed monkeys, lions and chickens, as well as blankets, sneakers and

packets of cereal, back to Tecate. The group planned to distribute the

gifts, along with colorful brochures providing instructions about where

they could find God, to the city’s needy children.

“I poisoned a lot of youth with what I used to bring over,” Coronado said

as he gulped down one of 12 tacos at a tiny stand on the city’s main

drag. “But now we’re bringing life to the kids.”

This time, the operation was far from covert: A white truck painted with

a cross and the logo “Jesus Lives, Jesus Vive”-- The Jesus Van, as the

volunteers call it -- carried the goods. A local radio station, La

Tremenda 1600 AM, announced their arrival. The volunteers were even given

a police escort into town -- by the same official who Coronado said

interrogated him 20 years ago after catching him trafficking drugs.

The journey began with a prayer at the Laguna Beach home of Jennifer

Wilde, who has organized the toy drop with fellow church member Luis

Armendariz for more than five years.

“I used to live a very selfish unholy life,” said Wilde, a former

Hollywood producer, actress, model and partyer. “But I realized life on

this earth is basically meaningless. I am much more concerned about

peoples’ souls.”

She said Wednesday’s expedition was a missionary effort. While she enjoys

giving toys away, she said it was more important to spread the word of

Jesus through the brochures.

After a 3 1/2-hour drive -- which led the three-car caravan through the

same hills Coronado crossed 20 years ago -- the seven volunteers crossed

the border.

Seconds after entering Mexico, a police car pulled the truck over. The

officers wanted Coronado to give them the toys to distribute themselves,

through their Social Services Department.

“They’ll take out all the good toys for their own children,” said Mary

Coronado, the pastor’s wife.Eventually, the officers relented, and the

caravan headed for the hills.

The first stop was Colonia Luis Donaldo Colosio, a dusty village of

scattered concrete-block and corrugated tin houses. Employees of large

international factories -- which frequently set up shop in border towns

to exploit the cheap Mexican labor -- inhabit the village.

The homes are as temporary as the materials used to build them. They

sprout up when a new factory moves in and are often washed away by the

heavy January rains.

Hundreds of children, whose clothing, skin and hair were colored by the

gray dust blowing in the air, came running down from their homes in the

hills. Urbina began throwing the stuffed animals from the side of the van

-- their brilliant primary colors glaring in the otherwise monochromatic

landscape.

“Look, look!” shouted hundreds of children in Spanish as the truck

stopped. They swarmed around the back of the truck, eagerly pulling each

other’s arms, calling for brothers and sisters, and jumping with

excitement.

The pastor threw Daniel Isaac Guerrero, 9, a new red sweatshirt. The

newest sweatshirt in the village. He draped it over his shoulders and

proudly walked around the van.

“I love it,” he said in Spanish. “It’s marvelous.”

After an hour of handing out the gifts, one per child, the volunteers

moved to the parking lot of a downtown mall. The radio station announced

the van would be there, and there were clusters of people waiting in

line.

The sun had set but the sky was illuminated by this century’s brightest

moon. And the neon of a Blockbuster Video. And the Gigante supermarket.

People waiting there for toys wore blue jeans, school uniforms, ski

parkas and colorful sweaters. They put down their grocery bags filled

with toilet paper, Cup O’ Noodles and rental videos to gather stuffed

animals by the armful. They sifted through for the biggest and brightest.

“Are these free? What are they for?” asked one woman in Spanish as she

stepped out of her Ford Taurus.

“They’re to give to poor people,” replied Gaby Urbina, 8, who helped her

mother, Yaneth, distribute the gifts.

The woman walked to the end of the line.

“I would have preferred to have given them all out in the hills,” said

Wilde, as she handed out a colorful brochure. “But we are blessing the

kids. You keep learning every year.”