Santa’s Beach House glittered in the sun as Maggie Ladislao Ramirez and her two young children, Arianna Purez, 6, and Cartur Ladislao,2, played with Santa while waiting to meet Chris Loidolt, 69, to receive Christmas presents Loidolt purchased for the family through the Adopt-a-Family Program Loidolt has participated in for over 20 years.
“I was about 6-years-old when gifts were brought to my house by the Adopt-a-Family organization,” said the 22-year-old Ramirez. A 2012 Laguna Beach High School graduate, Ladislao Ramirez is in the midst of completing her A.A. degree in a para-legal program at Irvine Valley College while working full time at a family law firm. She expects to graduate next year and move into her own place, she says.
Currently, Ladislao Ramirez shares a two-bedroom apartment in Laguna with her two children and her parents, who work in Laguna too. Her father is a cook at Papa’s Taco and her mother is a housekeeper for the Holiday Inn in Laguna. Her daughter, Arianna, is a Kindergartner at El Morro Elementary, while her son Cartur will enroll at the Boys & Girls pre-school program this coming year.
“This is what we do in town, we help each other, someday she will be adopting a family too” said Loidolt, who has participated in buying gifts for the Adopt-a-Family Christmas project since the early 1970s with Sande St. John, who founded and organizes the program along with Marsha Brode. Together, they fulfill close to 100 children’s wishes during the holiday season with the help of local businesses and residents.
“It’s such an example of what neighbors can do to help each other,” said Loidol,t who moved to Laguna Beach in 1972. The Adopt-a-Family program began at the same time as the Laguna Relief and Resource Center as an outreach to families affected by the firestorm that devastated Laguna Beach in 1993.
Renae Hinchey, General Manager at Laguna Beach County Water District,signed up to help a family while attending the Women’s Club of Laguna Beach tarnished treasures event in early December, where the names of families in need were hanging on the Women’s Club’s Christmas tree.
“Oh my gosh, when you hear that Christmas wish lists include jackets and shoes, you want to help.” Hinchey said. She went back to the district office and put up a flyer to collect donations. “People were really excited to help,” she said, adding that she collected $800 among 40 employees for two families.
“They got everything they wanted on the list, including a Barbie dream house and car, Wolverine transformers and a Victoria Secret gift certificate for the 15-year-old girl in the family,” Hinchey said. She added a $100 gift certificate for Albertsons to make sure dinner was covered too.
“We’ve been around for 91 years and this is the first time I can remember helping the Adopt-a-Family Program. I’m sure we’ll do it again, we all go through situations. Most people take jackets and shoes for granted.”
Adopt-a-Family connects with families in the Laguna Beach Unified School District where 287 students are eligible for free and or reduced cost lunches district wide, states district spokesperson Leisa Winston. All of of the adopted families live or work in town or have children in the Laguna Beach Unified School District.
“It makes me feel like a part of the community and it’s personal. I know I’ll be giving back someday too,” Ramirez said.
