Filling their stockings

Lolita Harper

Anthony Blake misses the snow.

Once the ground was covered, it was time to go Christmas tree

shopping, decorate the house and head to the malls to buy the kids

presents.

“The snow always puts me in the Christmas spirit,” said Blake, the

father of two young boys.

But snow is not the only thing missing this year.

Blake’s young family has no home to decorate and no money to buy

presents. Instead of planning the usual yuletide feast, they are

wondering where their next meal will come from.

“We don’t know what our plans are for Christmas. We don’t even know

where we are staying tonight,” said Blake, 24. “Our biggest fear is that

Christmas is coming and this might be the first year that the kids won’t

have a tree.”

Devon and Hunter Blake may not have a tree, but thanks to the

generosity of those at Someone Cares Soup Kitchen they will at least have

presents to open.

The soup kitchen is holding its annual toy drive and hopes to help

thousands of children like the Blakes this year, said George Neureuther,

development director.

Last year, the soup kitchen gathered 4,000 gifts and brightened the

holiday of more than 1,700 children. This year, the organization has

collected almost 700 toys, with two weeks remaining.

“We like to give the kids at least two toys each because for many of

them, this is all they’ll get,” Neureuther said.

While the giving spirit of the holiday season makes Blake hopeful for

the future, he can’t help reminisce on the events that brought him to

this point in life.

In August, Blake and longtime girlfriend Kelly Conway, 21, packed up

their two young boys, their station wagon and headed west, with dreams of

starting a new job and a new life.

But the new life that lay ahead of them was beyond their wildest

nightmares, Blake said.

“Sometimes it feels like the Twilight Zone because it is so far beyond

comprehension,” he said.

The job fell through, and the young family found itself 3,000 miles

from their loved ones and running dangerously low on cash. Blake went

from making $50,000 a year in sales to looking for work at labor centers.

Three months later, the family is still living day to day, from

shelter to shelter and meal to meal.

The four of them have slept in the car, tents, hotel rooms, shelters

-- always having to pack up all their belongings and keep moving. They

look to charities to provide them with meals, clothing and gas vouchers

but strive to be independent.

“We are provided with all the basics, but it’s just stagnating. The

main thing we need is just a chance to get ahead. I just need a month of

stability,” Blake said.

Blake wants to work, but to get back into sales he needs an address

and phone number to put on his resume. Even the smallest things provide a

challenge.

“I need dry cleaning,” he said.

Despite the seemingly never-ending cycle, Blake and Conway said they

will not give up. They are both intelligent and hard working and will

find a way to support their family, they said.

“I’m glad our boys are still so young. For them, it’s kind of like a

vacation,” Blake said.

* Lolita Harper covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4275 or by e-mail at o7 [email protected] .

FYI

* WHAT: Someone Cares Soup Kitchen Toy Drive

* WHERE: 720 W. 19th Street, Costa Mesa

* WHEN: The toy drive runs through Dec. 24, when the gifts will be

given to the children. Donations may be dropped off from 9 a.m. to 4:30

p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon on weekends.

* INFORMATION: (949) 548-8861