By Loreen Berlin
Stanton residents in the Tina-Pacific Neighborhood were served a complete Thanksgiving dinner just before Thanksgiving Day at the Illumination Foundation Children's Resource Center, 8920 Pacific Ave., in Stanton.
At the end of the dinner, each of the nearly 300 families were also given several colorful cloth-shopping bags full of ingredients for another complete dinner, except for meat.
By Loreen Berlin
Stanton residents in the Tina-Pacific Neighborhood were served a complete Thanksgiving dinner just before Thanksgiving Day at the Illumination Foundation Children's Resource Center, 8920 Pacific Ave., in Stanton.
At the end of the dinner, each of the nearly 300 families were also given several colorful cloth-shopping bags full of ingredients for another complete dinner, except for meat.
Some of the local dignitaries helping serve included Stanton Mayor David Shawver, Sen. Lou Correa and daughter Emily, 13, and former assistant Secretary of the Treasury Neel Kashkari.
“This is what Thanksgiving should be about,” said Correa. “Today, the Illumination Foundation and the City of Stanton teamed up to serve a Thanksgiving meal; one, many of these folks wouldn't have without this help.”
The Illumination Foundation is a local non-profit, founded in 2007, to break and prevent the cycle of homelessness in Orange County.
Paul Leon is the head of the Illumination Foundation, who formerly was a nurse with the County of Orange; he works with Paul Cho.
“I saw homeless people sleeping under bushes; in their cars, on the beach and in parks, and that's what motivated me to find housing and to feed the homeless,” said Leon. “As a nurse for the county, I didn't know where to send the homeless people, as there were very few places to send them.”
Leon said during cold weather in the winter, the Santa Ana National Guard Armory is open to provide shelter for the homeless.
“We started this non-profit to raise funds to house the homeless and to get them off the streets,” said Leon. “In the seven years since we started, we've helped more than 1,400 families to get off the streets.”
That evening, there were hundreds of volunteers helping to serve food and to hand out the bags of food after dinner; they will also do the same thing at Christmas time, where they will hand out thousands of toys and give bikes to children, which are arranged for by Olympic Road Cyclist Amber Neben.
Ritz Carlton Hotel in South County baked all of the turkeys and made the gravy. Tim Morgan with “Crooked Fox” crafts helped youngsters make bracelets for themselves, their teachers and friends at the event. Kids could participate in crafts of making greeting cards and have their faces painted throughout the evening.
“This is a really good organization and a learning experience for me,” said Emily Correa, 13. “This is my first time to help and I'm learning how really blessed I am.”
Along with housing, medical, mental health, and workforce services "IF" also offers educational services (such as those within the Children's Resource Center) as a way to combat the growing demand to support at-risk youth within Orange County.
“The Illumination Foundation decided to open CRC within this area in Orange County as we identified this area as "ground zero" in terms of need,” said Illumination Foundation Manager of Communications and Development Sheryl Overman. “There is an overwhelming amount of poverty, gang affiliation, and prostitution within this area and the foundation felt that it was within our mission to reach out to the youth to create long-lasting generational change.”
Overman said since IF begun its outreach in the community, there has been an overwhelmingly positive response from the neighborhood and city officials.
“Police have reported a marked decrease in crime activity,” Overman said. “The Illumination Foundation is here to support positive change in the community in an effort to give youth a fighting chance against generational poverty and homelessness.”
Each week, IF runs early-child literacy from 10 a.m. to noon at CRC and after-school enrichment and tutoring from 3 to 6 p.m.
“We have partnered with Second Harvest and The White House of Anaheim to serve daily suppers to the children who attend,” she said. “Our attendance is approximately 40 to 50 children each day.”
CRC also offers parenting classes, mommy and me yoga, mental health services, and it has begun partnering with Chapman University graduate students for speech classes for youth who benefit from the specialized support.
“It's our goal to run weekend neighborhood clean-ups, barbecues, and kids’ activities two-to-three Saturdays a month within the Tina-Pacific Neighborhood,” Overman said. “Many times, we partner with other non-profits such as OneOC and corporate groups like Edwards Lifesciences and Southern California Edison who have recently come out, to further our efforts.”
Overman said the continued work has made the community a safer place for children.
Sponsors include: Orange Blossoms, Our Lady Queen of Angels, University Synagogue, Tony Rotundo, Peggy Hawkins family, Phyllis Murphy family, Dominic Vu and Friends, Girls Hope, Carolyn Phoa-Ting and Megan Ting, Natasha Fierro, Jackie Bavarro, Elisa Roddel group, Charlene Eskine family, Brenda Liu, Ronilyn Ricaforte and friends, Anna Chen family, Erin Brown family and the St. Joachim Church.
The Foundation is a 501(c)3 – tax ID 71-1047686. All gifts and donations are tax deductible.
For information about the Illumination Foundation, call Sheryl at 949-273-0555.
