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Adopt a Family Delivers Christmas to Needy in East L.A.

By Paul Aranda Jr, EGP Staff Writer

When two-year-old Jocelyn Orea wakes up Christmas morning, she will not be old enough to understand the burden many parents feel to deliver presents for their children. For Jocelyn’s mother, Gloria Orea, that burden was lightened slightly this year because of a small decade-long Eastside tradition.

VELA board member Daniel Ramos hands a gift over to Jocelyn Orea at the volunteer organization’s annual Christmas party in East Los Angeles. (EGP Photo by Paul Aranda Jr)

Proving that good deeds are measured by more than just numbers, five families received a welcomed holiday boost at the Volunteers of East Los Angeles’ (VELA) annual Adopt-a-Family Christmas party on Tuesday evening. Every year, through referrals from nonprofits and government agencies from the East Los Angeles area, VELA selects families to attend a fully catered Christmas dinner, complete with wrapped gifts and food baskets.

A sign of the harsh economic times, participants are fewer than half the number in 2008. This year, however, marks the beginning of what looks to be a bright partnership for VELA. For the first time, the event had a host in Pan American Bank, which offered the use of its East Los Angeles headquarters to assist the nonprofit’s holiday efforts.

Since taking over as Pan American Bank CEO and president this past June, Jesse Torres quickly learned to value VELA’s work and opened a door for the nonprofit to partner with the largest Latino-owned bank in California. Vicky Rosales, program manager and volunteer coordinator at VELA, said the bank’s facility more than made up for the frustrations of staff that struggled to find sponsorships for the annual adoption event.

“In the past we held it at our center, but due to the number of attendants we’ve had to host it outside,” said Rosales.

This year, the families were spared the December cold of past events, and welcomed into the bank that has for the past 45 years worked to strengthen its East Los Angeles home. At a time when banks are often the subjects of public scrutiny, Pan American Bank’s simple act demonstrates the good a for-profit company can do by simply opening its doors.

Torres is most impressed with the effort VELA makes to achieve its lofty goals in the community.

For Torres, evidence of VELA’s efforts was easy to provide. On Dec 19, VELA coordinated its annual “Navidad En El Barrio” at the East Los Angeles Civic Center. The annual toy and food basket drive, co-sponsored by the East L.A. Chamber of Commerce, East L.A. Sheriffs station and Pan American Bank, provided 1,350 families with holiday baskets, said Rosales.

Rosales said VELA was able to provide a larger number of baskets this year because most of the donations received came in the form of food and supplies, as opposed to money needed for the Adopt-a-Family event.

This year, VELA staff adopted one family. Los Bomberos, a Latino group of L.A. County firefighters, adopted three families. The East L.A. Rotary adopted the fifth family.

“These are families that, without our adoption, would more than likely go without anything at all,” said Joanne M. Arebalo, associate director of VELA.

“We interviewed each of the families and gave them a wish list to identify things they need,” she added. “These are the things that we go out and buy.”

With a little more than $2,000 in funds, VELA budgeted around $300 per family for gifts. In addition, each family received a food basket.
“The bottom line is, this is a collaboration of partnerships …” Arebalo said.

This year has been rough for Gloria Orea and her husband. With Christmas a few days away, the VELA event was a much-appreciated assistance. Their daughters, Jocelyn, and five-year-old Ashley received plenty of toys along with shoes from their sponsors, Los Bomberos.

“We’re a happy family,” Gloria said. “But we don’t have a lot of money to buy them the things they like.”

Sitting at an adjacent table, the Alvarez family received a similar holiday boost. For three young boys, Aiden, Brandon and Aaron, the toys and spider man backpacks made it feel like Christmas, just a few days early.

Understanding that Christmas is not restricted to just families, VELA invited Barbara and Jose to the festivities as well. The elderly pair met at a convalescent hospital five years ago. With no immediate family in the area, the two have turned to each as they navigate the streets of Los Angeles to survive. The two are wheelchair bound and had been living out of a car for at least a year when they met VELA volunteers at a resource fair three weeks ago. The VELA board of directors adopted the two friends and provided them with bathrobes, pajamas and slippers.

Not in attendance, Robert Velasquez represents the kind of family VELA looks to include in its holiday festivities. Velasquez, 20, has taken on the responsibility to oversee the caretaking of his four young nephews. In addition to the boys, Velasquez also cares for his disabld father. Another family not in attendance was Taisha Contreras and her three young children, a four-year-old daughter, and two sons, ages one and three.

Unable to attend Tuesday’s party, the Velasquez and Contreras families still received an early Christmas when VELA volunteers visited their homes last night.

Watching the Orea daughters open their gifts on Tuesday night, Torres explained the value of VELA’s Christmas efforts.

“This is a chance to get behind the Christmas spirit,” Torres said. “We can do some good things for some people who haven’t been as well off as we are.”

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