‘Santa on steroids’ saves day

Thieves stole just about everything Curtis Walch owned Monday night.

His Bible, a Tom Clancy novel and other personal effects that he had bundled in his backpack — all gone. His friend, another homeless man living on the streets of Costa Mesa, fared worse. They stole his shoes. Walch tried to warn him, but his friend said he didn’t like to sleep with his shoes on. Later on, the two went over to the Salvation Army thrift store where he was told to pick out a pair of shoes.

And fortunately for Walch, the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen was giving out backpacks full of goodies to the down-and-out at the organization’s annual Christmas dinner Tuesday. As carolers entertained hungry would-be diners waiting in line outside the soup kitchen, Walch explained how he has come to depend on agencies like Someone Cares.

“I’ve been living on the streets on and off since I was 14,” he said matter-of-factly. Alcohol’s the main problem (“I don’t do drugs anymore.”) Well, that and a lot of heartache from failed relationships. “I find a good woman, figure out a way to screw that up and, well ... ”

He gets by with day labor work, but it’s usually spotty this time of the year, especially in the spiraling economy.

It’s getting harder to find shelter when it gets so lean he can’t afford a motel, but the folks at the Lighthouse Community Church at least open the doors, “especially if it’s drenching rain,” he said.

After he had dinner, he hugged Ellie Weaver, Someone Cares Soup Kitchen’s administrative coordinator, and went to get a backpack. Walch was an accomplished ballet dancer in New York once, but his life fell apart after a divorce and his move to California. Apparently, he was well-known enough that some dancers in Laguna Beach invited him to join their company, but Weaver said she saw him the next morning and he was already drunk.

Stories like Walch’s have moved Corey Donaldson, a Costa Mesa businessman who volunteered to coordinate this year’s backpack-full-of-goodies giveaway and the Someone Cares toy drive and distribution, which was also Tuesday.

Donaldson took it on himself to lead a $30,000 fundraising drive to pay for 400 backpacks, 800 children’s toy bags and 1,200 Christmas dinners. The backpacks include 30 items, including shaving kits, socks, hats, shampoo and other toiletries. And the toy bags had five gifts each. One donor gave $10,000 to the cause and others gave up to $1,000, Donaldson said.

Someone Cares volunteers had been struggling to keep the backpack giveaway going so they welcomed Donaldson’s help this year. And he delivered like Santa on steroids, Weaver said. Just in time, too, considering Someone Cares drew more than 300 diners Tuesday, double the usual amount and probably triple the number of families, officials said.

For Donaldson there was poetry to the cause for him personally. He made his fortune, starting with the sale of a duplex on Anaheim Avenue in Costa Mesa, about 15 years ago.

“So I just wanted to give back,” he said.

Tuesday capped off a massive undertaking that started with Donaldson acquiring the goods, about 18,000 items in all, from dollar-store liquidators across the country. He had the goods shipped here and filled a storage unit.

On Sunday, Donaldson led a team of volunteers who sorted through the stuff and filled the backpacks. The Power Honda dealership in Costa Mesa let the volunteers do their work on a showroom floor that was cleared for them and Donaldson brought in a caterer and a disc jockey. “I wanted to make it a party,” he said.

To top it off, he asked the volunteers to bring second-hand clothes for the homeless, and if they could fill a 14-foot truck with the clothes then they’d receive a $1,000 matching gift from a donor. Mission accomplished.

Now Donaldson’s only goal is to collect the full $30,000 in 30 days. So far, he has received $28,200 in 23 days. To find out how to help, visit www.someonecares30kin30days. com/wordpress or e-mail Donaldson at corey@avalonproperties.net.