Church Hosts Party for Needy Children

More than 200 children from the Minnie Street neighborhood in Santa Ana were treated to a Christmas party this week at Mariner’s South Coast Church’s Irvine campus.

Each child received gifts from a wish list they had provided to church volunteers. Presents included radio-controlled cars, Barbie dolls and Walkmans, said Susan Akins, director of a church outreach program.

“They played games, they ate, they made crafts,” Akins said of Wednesday’s event. “It was an all-around good time.”

Nearly all of the children’s gift requests were met. Miraculously, none of the children asked for a Tickle Me Elmo doll, this season’s impossible-to-find item, Akins said. Dinner was provided by Avila’s El Ranchito restaurant in Costa Mesa.

Mariners, which also has a facility in Newport Beach, maintains a close affiliation with Minnie Street youths. The church runs a free learning center that helps neighborhood children with their homework and does outreach work in the area, Akins said.

The children were shuttled from Minnie Street by about 30 church volunteers. This is the second year that Mariners has thrown a Christmas party at the church for the children.