Cozy Christmas for all

Suzie Harrison

She was glad she had a place to go to celebrate the holiday. A safe

place to enjoy a Christmas feast, where her young son could talk with

Santa Claus, do crafts and receive gifts while sharing the experience

with other families and people who cared.

That was the setting she and others found at Laguna’s American

Legion Post 222’s annual Christmas celebration for families in need.

She said that she did not want to give her name.

“He doesn’t know where we are,” she said of her husband. “He

burned his first wife’s house down in Canada and sold my son’s

stroller when he was two to three months old -- you don’t do that.”

She has lived in Laguna for about a year, and it was her first

time to this holiday event. She said she was very excited about

eating some turkey and pointed to the large buffet table of

traditional trimmings.

“I was told if I come by here, they will give presents for the

kids,” she said. “Laguna Beach is such a cozy community.”

Sande St. John is the legionnaire’s community outreach person and

event chair for the children.

“I choose the families who are going to come because I work with

them through the year,” St. John said. “We pull more in every year;

we started with two families, and now have eight.”

She said the families are local people who mostly work in

restaurants washing dishes or busing tables, or in hotels

housekeeping.

“We have several families who have been put on leave [from work]

because business is too slow -- so they have no money coming in,” St.

John said. “One family was given a three-day notice to vacate because

they were helping out a friend who lost their job.”

It meant a single woman and her 5- and 11-year-old children

sharing their place with a husband and wife and their 4-month-old

baby and 4-year-old child under one roof in a tiny space.

“They’re in dire need,” St. John said.

Anayeli Gomez, 12, said that her family has been coming for five

or six years.

“We’ve been coming for many years,” Anayeli said. “I’m here with

my friends, too. We paint and we pray. We eat and then get our

presents, and then, we get to open them and see Santa Claus. It makes

me happy and stuff.”

Yolanda Vasquez is a single mother living in Downtown Laguna with

four children.

“Everything is fun, they do the art, and everybody makes a picture

frame,” Vasquez said. “And everybody is so nice, especially Sande St.

John.”

Linda Huerta has been volunteering for six years and feels it is a

good time for people to make a connection and feel part of the

community.

Sgt. Maj. Jim Law said that the American Legion is nonsecular and

accepts all religions and beliefs.

“American Legion has two goals,” Law said. “First, to assist needy

veterans and needy families. Second, to have a program for the

children, youth of the country; they are our future.”

Jessica DeStefano, the snow fairy, was there with her trusted elf

Jim Rue to volunteer. Everyone left with bags of food and presents to

keep the holiday warmth going.

“I come to grant wishes and sprinkle you with fairy dust,”

DeStefano said. “I like bringing good wishes, peace and joy.”

For more information on helping Lagunans in need, call St. John at

(949) 499-9429.