An extra push

Mike Sciacca

The art of giving is especially felt during the holiday season,

perhaps more than any other time of the year.

Surf City Breakfast Kiwanis Club, however, intends to extend that

gift beyond the new year.

The club, some 22 members strong and less than a year old, first

adopted a Huntington Beach family at Thanksgiving, providing all the

trimmings for a hearty, holiday meal to a single mother with five

children aged 8 to 17, living in a two-bedroom apartment.

After some discussion among its members, the club, which received

its charter just last spring, decided to adopt that same family for

Christmas -- and the entire coming year.

“We’re a very enthusiastic club,” said Barbara Van Dine, a

founding charter member and vice president of the club. “We’re a

small but mighty group.”

The adoption came through Project Self-Sufficiency, which is

coordinated through the city’s community services department.

Project Self-Sufficiency assists low-income, single parents in

achieving economic independence from governmental assistance through

a network of community and county services, said Susan Edwards,

director of Project Self-Sufficiency for the past 15 years.

Participants in the program must be a single parent -- male or

female -- in custody of minor children, live, work or attend school

in Huntington Beach and the parent has to be in school or in job

training, Edwards said.

Both public and private agencies are involved in the program.

The adoption program takes place each Thanksgiving, Christmas and

Easter.

“Project Self-Sufficiency is a program for single parents trying

to make their way but can’t make it in this economy, and that can be

due to several factors,” Edwards said.

“The adoption program is one of the best programs I have and this

community really responds to it every year. It’s just amazing and

wonderful, the way this community has given to these families, who

are taken care of very well. The Surf City Breakfast Kiwanis Club has

been very generous in this regard.”

Anita Brace, a Project Self-Sufficiency board member, suggested

the initial adoption to the Surf City Breakfast Kiwanis Club. Van

Dine took over the initial contact between the club and the adopted

family.

What was supposed to be a Thanksgiving adoption turned into

something more.

“Barbara got the family for us at Thanksgiving and I brought up

the idea to adopt them for the entire year because people need help

all year, not just at Thanksgiving and Christmas,” said club member

Mifanwy Kaiser. “The club enthusiastically said, ‘yes,’ to that idea.

“We will provide for them throughout the year, when we have the

resources to do so.”

At Christmastime, all club members donated gifts to its adopted

family, which included a refrigerator.

Club founder Randy Golden donated a tree and decorations. Kristine

Callahan, membership chair for the club, and club member Connie

Pedrenko, organized the purchase of the refrigerator, Kaiser said.

Callahan also helped secure a donated computer for the family.

“All of our club members have been extremely generous with their

time and resources,” Van Dine said. “You know, the idea to do

something like an adoption is great and wonderful but one of the

challenges with this, or any other community service, is that it

takes time and energy.

“Sometimes, we forget that there are people out there who don’t

have the resources to provide for their family. What was special

about this family is that what they wanted for Christmas were

necessities, such as socks, jackets and shoes. One of the boys in the

family loves to read, so we purchased some books. Another is into art

and we gave craft supplies. We also gave the mother a camera.”

Other community service projects the club took part in this

holiday season, Van Dine said, included working on 30 Thanksgiving

food baskets for the Huntington Beach Family Resources Center and

taking a group of local high school and college students to Pasadena

to decorate floats for the Rose Parade.

Club members likely will volunteer “in some capacity” at the

Pacific Shoreline Marathon to run Feb. 1 in Huntington Beach, Van

Dine said.

“Our club hasn’t quite been together a year yet, but we’re going

strong,” she said. “It’s all about giving and luckily, we have some

really wonderful people in our club willing to make things a little

better for others.”