Residents rally against terror

Deepa Bharath

Viana Mehl-Laituri was in New York City three weeks ago with her

boyfriend.

The 23-year-old Costa Mesa resident, who was touring the city, made a

choice then. She picked the Empire State Building over the World Trade

Center.

“I figured the Empire State is an old building,” she said. “I thought

we could see the World Trade Center any time.”

Little did Mehl-Laituri realize then that three weeks from that day

she would be waiting at Hoag Hospital’s blood bank to help pump up the

supply of life-giving blood so people injured in the terrorist attack on

the World Trade Center would have a chance to survive.

The entire Newport-Mesa community over the last two days has rallied

in support of those affected by Tuesday morning’s assault on the World

Trade Center and the Pentagon -- not just by praying and sending out

good, positive thoughts to the suffering, but also by literally giving a

part of themselves, their own blood.

On Wednesday afternoon, the phones were ringing off the hook at Hoag

Hospital’s blood bank with people asking if they could donate, as manager

Randy German scrambled to take the calls.

“The response from the community has been overwhelming, and it’s

something that’s unprecedented here,” he said. “We never called for

donors but we got calls, people drove up here, they just showed up. It

has really touched us.”

Since Tuesday, 100 people have donated blood and, as of today, 200

still wait in line, German said.

The blood donated at Hoag will help those affected in the attacks only

indirectly, he explained.

“We don’t send this blood to New York,” German said. “But it still

helps because our hospital gets 60% of its blood from the national blood

supply. We can reduce that dependency by a lot if we have our own and the

national supply can go to those injured by the attacks.”

Doug Sanders, a Laguna Beach resident, said it does not matter to him

whether he helps directly or indirectly.

“I’m just happy to help any way I possibly can,” he said. “I haven’t

donated blood in 10 years, but this is something I just had to do.”

Pat Griffith of Huntington Beach said the sight of the airplane

piercing through one of the towers was an image as powerful as the famed

shot of a firefighter holding a girl in his arms at the Oklahoma City

bombing.

“This is the first time in a long time that I’m doing this,” she said.

“I didn’t know what else I could do. What can you do about something like

this?”

Mehl-Laituri, too, said she was haunted by the horrific shot

repeatedly aired on television.

“Every time I see that plane fly through the building, I just want to

cry all over again,” she said.

Mehl-Laituri said the incident has provoked her to get involved in her

community.

“I’ve realized how important that is,” she said. “Nothing comes free.

You have to pay with time, money or effort.”

Local organizations are also getting involved. Sierra’s Light

Foundation, the Costa Mesa nonprofit organization founded after the

playground murder of two children in Costa Mesa in May 1999, is working with Begg’n for Bears, a Dallas-based group that sends teddy bears to

devastated children as a form of comfort.

“They are simply something for these children to hold on to,” said

Rhonda Richards, whose mother founded Begg’n for Bears.

“The teddy bears make them feel like they are loved and somebody cares

about them,” she added

Apart from donating blood and bears, residents around the area showed

their solidarity and patriotism by flying the American flag half-mast.

Costa Mesa resident David Leighton went one step further and made a

black wreath with a black heart inside it that had the date Sept. 11,

2001, written on it in white letters.

Leighton was one of the building engineers who went to Japan after

World War II.

“When I saw the devastation on TV yesterday, I was reminded of the day

I walked in the rubble in Tokyo,” he said Wednesday. “A lot of us don’t

fly the flag anymore. I think we have to start doing those things.”

Gay Wassall-Kelly, a Balboa Peninsula resident, said she has been

encouraging her friends and neighbors to fly the flag as well.

“It’s the least we can do,” she said.

Hospital officials, however, hope the blood will continue to flow even

after the initial shock dies down.

“We will feel the effect of this only in the next few months,” German

said. “We’re going into this crisis short. So we’ll definitely need more

donors in the months to come.”

* Deepa Bharath covers public safety and courts. She may be reached at

(949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at o7 deepa.bharath@latimes.comf7 .

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WHERE TO HELP

* Blood donation at Hoag Hospital: There is a two-week wait for those

who want to donate blood at the hospital, but people can still call (949)

760-5639 to schedule an appointment. The blood bank is open 8:30 a.m. to

4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

* Begg’n for Bears: Local drop-off points are at The Dance Center, 103

E. 17th St., and Step by Step, 2525 Fairview Road, both in Costa Mesa.

For information on when the drop-offs may be made, call The Dance Center

at (949) 760-5639 and Step by Step at (714) 966-5264.

The bears must be new. The organization plans to ship the toys off to

New York by the end of the week or Monday at the latest. Group members

will personally deliver the bears to the Mental Health Assn. in New York,

and that organization will in turn distribute the bears through

counselors and health care workers.