NCL%20Fills%20Santa%20Bags%20for%20Needy%20Children

Christmas came early for appropriately 1,600 children at Los Angeles County USC Medical Center this past weekend. For 37 years, the San Marino Area Chapter of National Charity League has partnered with LAC+USC to provide Christmas gifts for critically ill pediatric patients and their siblings at an annual event called the “Shop-a-Thon.” For this event, pre-screened families are invited by the hospital’s Social Service Department to come to the medical center this past weekend to pick up Santa bags for their children. For many of the families living below the poverty level, the bags represent the only gifts the children will receive this year. NCL mother-daughter teams worked all weekend, hand-filling and delivering the bags to more than 500 families, picking from a large selection of items for boys and girls, including books, toys, sweatshirts, blankets, towels, balls and basic essentials. NCL members also donated time, money and gifts to help meet the needs of the children. This is the chapter’s largest philanthropic event of the year. The 2018 chairs were Jacky Samartin and Pam Rasmussen.