Assistance Still Pouring In for Victims of Fire

One school raised $500 in a coin drive. A Boy Scout troop solicited gift certificates from local grocers. And a first-grader even offered up her allowance for a month to buy lunches for a classmate.

Those are some of the donations that have been pouring in to the Tustin Unified School District in the wake of the Lemon Heights fire Oct. 21.

Of the 10 families whose homes were destroyed, four have children who attend district schools. The fire also damaged 23 other homes.

“These were among the families that were the hardest hit,” said Mark Eliot, school district spokesman. “People are really rallying behind them as much as they can.”

As of Friday, Eliot said, the district had collected and distributed at least $8,000 in cash, gift certificates and merchandise.

The largest single donation was $4,000 worth of beds and mattresses from an Orange-based shop. Vans Co., which manufactures shoes in Orange County, donated gift certificates for $300 worth of new footwear for the families. And a woman who had dropped her plans to open a clothing shop donated her unsold stock of new apparel, Eliot said.

Of the families whose homes were lost, one has a child at Arroyo Elementary School, one at Hewes Middle School and two students at Foothill High School.

A second family has two students at Arroyo. The third family has a student at Barbara Benson Elementary, and a fourth has two students at Hewes, school officials said.

Those interested in making a donation may call the district communications office at (714) 730-7339 for more information.

Individual school sites also are accepting checks or other correspondence at the following addresses:

* Arroyo Elementary School PTA, 11112 Coronel Road, Santa Ana, 92705.

* Barbara Benson Elementary School PTO, 12712 Elizabeth Way, Tustin, 92780.

* Foothill High School PTO, 19251 Dodge Ave., Santa Ana, 92705.

* Hewes Middle School PTA, 13232 Hewes Ave., Santa Ana, 92705.

The correspondence should be labeled “For fire victims,” Eliot said.