By Bruce Barton
 Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier |
As the United States prepared to go to war in the Middle East last week, Los Altos residents and businesses flew flags in a unified show of patriotism. Donations poured in from this area to aid relief efforts in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., the scenes of the Sept. 11 terrorist hijacking disasters.
“We have checks backed up 10 inches high that we haven’t even entered yet (into the computer),” said Deepa Arora, spokeswoman for the Palo Alto Area Chapter of the American Red Cross. “The response has been too overwhelming to track them (to a specific community).”
However, Arora noted that a few big donors to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, who requested anonymity, were from the Los Altos area.
Los Altos resident Valerie Tagilo encouraged residents to donate their federal rebate checks to the relief efforts.
Matthew Sereni of Los Altos, an accomplished horseback rider, decided to donate the $1,000 scholarship prize he won at the Oaks Horse Show in San Juan Capistrano the weekend following the tragedies.
Sereni, the overall winner at the Maclay Regional jumping event, had second thoughts about driving to Southern California in the wake of the attacks, said his mother Debralee.
“After attending Mass at the San Juan Capistrano Mission on Friday for National Prayer Day, he was at such a loss on how he could reach out to the victims,” she said. “After winning the $1,000, he knew he could assist others in time of need.”
“My mom and I spoke about it and decided I would donate to the relief fund,” Matthew said. “It’s so unrealistic that this could happen to us.”
To win the scholarship money, the Pinewood School student had to write an essay on how riding has affected his academic and personal life, turn in year-end grades and perform well in the riding tests. Matthew, 16, competes internationally and hopes to participate in the Olympics. This past summer he won team and individual gold medals for show jumping in Chicago.
Meanwhile, American flags lined the sidewalks in front of businesses on Main and State streets in downtown Los Altos. It seemed at least every other Los Altos home displayed a flag or some graphic representation saluting the United States.
Andrea Gorman of Los Altos, who is involved with the local Girl Scouts of Santa Clara County, Service Unit 8, said troops are preparing to deliver another 21 flags to 16 different businesses downtown. She is expecting two dozen from local American Legion Post 558, which has partnered with the Scouts in a three-year program that has the Legion giving flags to the troops who then distribute them for a $10 donation.
“People were swarming around my car asking me about flags,” said Gorman, who has helped deliver them to businesses.
Gorman also credited Kathleen Byrne of the Los Altos Village Association and Beth Miller of Marion Jackston’s with organizing the downtown flag effort.
Schools and neighborhoods reacted with acts of giving. The sixth grade classes at Almond School raised more than $1,000 for the relief effort selling ribbons before and after school.
Residents of the MacKenzie, Holly, Oakhurst and Portland street neighborhood in south Los Altos decided to turn their annual picnic Sunday into “a day of remembrance” with a moment of silence and singing of “God Bless America” and “The Star Spangled Banner.”
According to picnic organizer Pablo Luther, neighbors felt it more appropriate to transfer picnic donations to a firefighters’ relief fund through the Santa Clara County Fire Department in Los Altos. Firefighters were on hand to receive the donations and give children tours of their fire engine at Heritage Oaks Park.
