Doing Some Good Downtown—Give a Book or Some Time

OK, all you downtown loft dwellers: Here’s your chance to do some good in your neighborhood without even expending that much effort. Anyone who lives in the area has probably seen how many homeless or very, very low income kids and families there are in the Skid Row area. Take a minute and imagine what a typical day is like for a kid without a house, a room, or even their own toy or two. A new program at the Huntington Hotel (a residential hotel at 752 South Main), home to about 20 families, is helping kids get toys and improve their reading skills at the same time—but they need books and volunteers.

The Downtown News has a great story about the Huntington program. Here’s some detail:

On a recent afternoon at Skid Row’s Huntington Hotel, about a dozen children raced around the lobby, playing tag and having a blast…

Amid the commotion, hotel manager Al Manning stood to the side of the room, calm and smiling. The mess, he knew, would be cleaned soon enough. More important to Manning was that these children, who in this neighborhood are short on recreational opportunities, had an outlet on that day to be, well, kids.

“Look,” Manning said, pointing to the group, which ranged in age from a few months to about 12. “They’re having fun.”

Though the group seemed content playing tag, the real excitement – and the reason for the get-together – was tied to the anticipation of getting a new toy. That came courtesy of the Los Angeles County Department of Social Services’ Toy Loan Program, which launched at the hotel last month.

The little-known program, which has 43 outposts throughout the county, invites children to borrow a toy and return it a week later. If the child returns the toy in good condition, they can get a new toy. Marcia Blachman-Benitez, director of the department’s toy loan and volunteer services sections, describes the program as a toy library…

At the Huntington, the organizers have put their own stamp on the program by adding in a reading element. Volunteers read books to the kids, who then write mini-reports on the stories. They get points for these reports, and when they earn enough points, they get a toy:

If the child returns a toy five consecutive times, he or she is rewarded with a new toy they get to keep…

By like all good causes, this one needs help:

He hopes that in the coming months, the program will attract the attention of Downtown Los Angeles residents interested in volunteering to read aloud at the twice-weekly sessions, or propel some book donations. The hotel’s library consists of two small boxes containing about 50 titles, most of which are tattered and worn.

So grab some old kids books if you’ve got them, or buy a couple and drop them off. If you want to volunteer to read, or have a larger donation, contact Marcia Blachman-Benitez, Director of the Toy Loan program, at marciabenitez@dpss.lacounty.gov