CHILDREN OF SKID ROW GET SPECIAL VISIT FROM SANTA ON CHRISTMAS EVE

Thousands of Men, Women and Children Receive Christmas Dinner and Gifts at the Los Angeles Mission – Served with Holiday Cheer.

(Los Angeles California) --- December 24, 2003

Snow! Yes, that’s right, snow was falling onto the faces of homeless children as they waited for their turn on Santa’s lap! The air was bright with excitement as holiday music energized the crowds of homeless men, women and children sitting down to a family style Christmas dinner, complete with festive Christmas decorations and holiday cheer.

As Los Angeles celebrates Christmas with gifts and food, the homeless of Skid Row celebrate with help from the Los Angeles Mission. Nearly 4,000 meals were served Wednesday. More than 2,000 presents were given to children as Christmas came a day early on Skid Row, an area the Los Angeles Mission prefers to call “Hope Central.”

Celebrities joined 300 volunteers and served up plates of rotisserie chicken, homemade macaroni and cheese, savory mixed vegetables and hot peach cobbler with whipping cream. Celebrity volunteer, Jennifer Love Hewitt, hosted the festivities and said, “It means so much to me to be able to come down to the Mission and serve meals to people who might otherwise go without. And of course the added bonus on Christmas Eve, is being able to give toys to the kids and see their faces light up.”

“Christmas is a special time of the year at the Mission,” says Marshall McNott, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Mission. “Not only do we want to surround Hope Central with love during the holiday, but we believe that hope begins with a meal. That is often our point of connection with a person to give them the warmth and acceptance that can motivate them to make a major change in their life.”
Donated toys were wrapped by volunteers over the past few weeks, so each child could receive a gift appropriate to their age and gender.

To provide 4000 meals to the homeless it will take: 2500 pounds of rotisserie chicken, 250 gallons of homemade macaroni and cheese, 250 gallons of savory mixed vegetables, 60 cases of dinner rolls, 4,000 servings of hot peach cobbler and 375 pounds of whipped cream.

The winter months are the busiest of the year for the Los Angeles Mission. Over the past two years, the Mission has seen an increase of 29% in service requests. “More men and women are coming in for emergency services,” McNott added. “We can keep up with this increasing need as the good people of Los Angeles continue to help us with their financial gifts. We receive no government funding.

There is hope for men and women who make a commitment to get off the streets. The Los Angeles Mission Urban Training Institute, a 12-plus-month relational rehabilitation and recovery program helps program participants face their problems. In fact, they are called students – not members of a rehab program – and are encouraged to develop a life-long desire to learn. The educational program teaches them the physical, emotional and spiritual lessons necessary to successfully start life over again. 81 percent of the students of UTI year have remained clean, sober and employed a year after their graduation.

UTI’s innovative educational program partners with the Belmont Community Adult School of the Los Angeles Unified School District to provide GED programs for those students who have not received their high school diploma. And UTI offers higher-level programs for students who desire to continue their education.

For over 50 years, the Los Angeles Mission has served the people of Hope Central (Skid Row), providing emergency services such as shelter, food, clothing, as well as professional medical and dental services. In addition, the Los Angeles Mission also offers long-term residential rehabilitation programs including education, job training/placement, transitional housing and counseling.