Giving back on their birthday

Friends and family gathered at Corona del Mar residents Sid and Serene Stokes’ Corona del Mar home on Saturday to celebrate both of their 80th birthdays this year and also to collect donations for needy children at Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter in Costa Mesa.

Instead of gifts, the couple asked their loved ones to bring a donation to the shelter to provide children there with new clothes, shoes and school supplies.

The couple hope others will follow their lead.

“We hope this is a good example, a cheerful example that in your joyous event, you give back to people in need,” Sid Stokes said.

The Stokes, who have been married for 57 years, have three children and eight grandchildren, who all attended the party, along with friends, neighbors.

A few of the couple’s friends and relatives brought clothing and school supplies to donate to the shelter, but most brought checks and cash.

The money will go to help children at the shelter by new school clothes for the coming school year.

“It’s important for the children, especially the older ones to be able to go to the store and pick something out for themselves,” Serene Stokes said. “Because we were both born during the Great Depression, we wanted to do something for children in need.”

In a time of economic uncertainty, more people are using they birthday or anniversary parties as a way to raise money for people in need, said Laura Miller, executive director of Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter.

“It’s something more and more people realize they can do,” Miller said.

The Costa Mesa nonprofit, which provides an emergency shelter and a transitional housing program for homeless families, has seen growing demand for its services from local families over the past year because of the down economy, Miller said.

“We’re seeing more and more two-parent families, and families with a lot of skills, even college degrees,” Miller said. “So many people are just a paycheck away from losing their homes.”

The shelter is in particular need of new clothes and school supplies for the children who live there, Miller said.

“So much of what we see in clothing donations is for adult men or women, and maybe some infant stuff,” she said.