Reporter’s Notebook -- Young Chang

I’ve had fun checking my voicemail over the last couple of weeks.

You’ve left messages saying you were inspired by someone you read

about. You’ve eagerly asked how you might help. You’ve made it clear, by

the checks, letters and other goodies you promptly sent, that you weren’t

kidding about wanting to help.

So first, thank you for reading.

Second, and more importantly, Amy Taylor thanks you too.

Since her story appeared in the Pilot earlier this month, I’ve

received more calls and e-mails than I could count from readers who were

affected by how she, a 27-year-old Vanguard University student, adopted

her three younger brothers and is raising them along with her one

biological son.

For those of you who missed the story or don’t remember, she bore the

Olympic torch when it was in Newport Beach on behalf of foster care and

the prevention of child abuse. She’s raising four boys on her own, going

to school, working part time and doing all this happily, thankful that

she kept her family together.

A painful family history involving one mother, five fathers, multiple

foster homes and countless social workers had tried to keep Amy, Adam,

Joey and Tony apart. Ten years ago, she was granted temporary custody of

the boys. Two years ago, shelegally adopted the three boys and now is a

parent to four, including her son, DJ.

Though the Pilot has not set up any sort of Amy Taylor fund, we’ve

received more than $2,000 in checks made payable to her. We’ve gotten

calls about how people could forward her Disneyland tickets, spa gift

certificates, even about whether Amy had a car.

Last week, someone dropped off a Nintendo 64 game system.

Amy gawked at this -- first at its extravagance, then at its multiple

controls.

“Oh there are two of these!” she said, immediately relieved that her

two youngest boys wouldn’t find a new reason to fight.

We were at lunch at Mimi’s Cafe. We each ate big entrees and even

indulged in fries, though we each figured we shouldn’t.

She read through all the letters and gasped at some of the pricier

checks.

I explained that people found her inspiring and wanted to help. She

said that most people with siblings would do the same.

After she figures out whose address she has and whose I need to find

for her, Amy will send thank-you letters to everyone she’s heard from.

Until then, she and Adam, Joey, Tony and DJ Taylor plan to use your

checks for necessities, for luxuries, for occasional dinners out, for

bill-paying and for emergencies.

I, in the meantime, will continue having fun lunches with Amy and

passing on the heartfelt letters, donations and messages I get. Some of

the recent ones have suggested Amy be nominated for the Daily Pilot’s

most influential 103 people issue that comes out every fall.

One woman who called Thursday said “everybody wants to back a winner.”

For safety reasons, Amy’s contact information isn’t being publicized,

but if you’d still like to get her a message, my number’s below.

* Young Chang writes features. She may be reached at (949) 574-4268 or

by e-mail at o7 young.chang@latimes.comf7 .