Hospital helpers

When Riley Meunier was 6 months old, Children’s Hospital of Orange County diagnosed him with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, an immunodeficiency disease.

Only a bone marrow transplant cures it. Fortunately for Riley, his sister, Sydney, only a year older than him, was a perfect donor match.

“She literally is what saved his life,” said Amy Meunier, Riley and Sydney’s mom and a teacher at TeWinkle Middle School. Last year, Sydney cured her little brother’s illness. “It’s a miracle. I would have never known with a crystal ball life would be this perfect again,” she said. “[CHOC] truly gave us the greatest gift ever.”

This year, Riley’s story is serving as an inspiration for Meunier’s eighth-grade students at TeWinkle who are holding a toy drive for CHOC and Orangewood Children’s Home for the holidays.

“We started this fundraiser because it helped Ms. Meunier’s family,” said eighth-grader Gaby Ruiz. “We wanted to give back what CHOC did for her son.”

Teaching students about giving to those less fortunate, like kids at CHOC or orphaned or abused kids at Orangewood, only seemed natural after what her family had been through, Meunier said.

The toy drive is a simultaneous effort by TeWinkle’s four Advanced Via Individual Determination classes on campus that prepare students for college who would be the first in their families to go.

Seventh-graders do the advertising, and eighth-graders do the collecting, Meunier said.

“We feel happy for helping people because there’s a lot of people that need our help,” said 14-year-old Sofia Leal. “The toy drive is going to help the kids [at CHOC] have more joy in their lives because they can’t do anything but stay in bed.”

“I really think we need to help more people in our community,” Ruiz said.

TeWinkle’s toy drive wraps up next week. Drop off last-minute donations at the school’s office Monday at 3224 California Ave. in Costa Mesa.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.