Last-minute surge boosts charity drives

Charitable organizations serving Newport-Mesa reported Tuesday that holiday donations appeared to be up compared with 2005, though many acknowledged that the upcoming months would probably be lean.

The Spark of Love toy drive, which garnered media attention in mid-December when its donations lagged far behind last year’s pace, ended up filling all its orders after a late-season surge. Meanwhile, the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter, Someone Cares Soup Kitchen, Serving People in Need, Salvation Army and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul declared a prosperous season.

Shannon Santos, the manager of Someone Cares, said her kitchen had served 552 meals at its Christmas dinner on Dec. 22. The nonprofit also distributed about 800 toys to children that day at the Costa Mesa Community Center and handed out more than 1,000 others to families who came to the kitchen for breakfast on the weekend.

Serving People in Need, a Costa Mesa-based nonprofit that serves all of Orange County, exceeded its numbers from last year, according to Executive Director Jean Wegener. In 2005, the group reported 60 families in its housing program and 420 individuals being treated for substance abuse; Wegener said it had surpassed both this month, although final totals weren’t in yet.

“We were very, very lucky,” she said. “Our donors and the people who have responded to us over the last few years were absolutely terrific this year.”

The Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter, which provides transitional housing to dozens of families, asked for gift cards this year to allow tenants to shop for themselves. Marcos Valencia, the shelter’s operations assistant, said the two garages on the property were overflowing with goods by Christmas — and since the gift cards were small, he guessed that the shelter had topped its donations from a year ago.

The Spark of Love drive had met all its requests for toys — an estimated 365,000 — due to a spate of last-minute giving, said Lynnette Round, an Orange County Fire Authority spokeswoman. The drive officially ended on Christmas Eve, but fire stations around Newport-Mesa still accepted donations on Tuesday.

“We put the plea out to the public and, oh my goodness, they responded,” Round said. “It was amazing.”

During the last month, many of the nonprofit offices in town were stacked high with boxes and crowded with people who stopped by to contribute. On Tuesday, the day after Christmas, the action wound down considerably — but that came as little surprise to officials, who said the time between Christmas and Easter is always a slow one for charity.

“I think people just become more self-conscious around the holidays, and you have to put up more of an effort during those times in between,” said Laura Miller, executive director of the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter. “But overall, people are just really kind. They care about what’s happening in their backyard.”