Page 8 - Dinuba Sentinel 12-6-18 E-edition

A8 | Thursday, December 6, 2018 Back Page The Dinuba Sentinel
Angel Trees serve prisoners, children
Ministry will allow 35 local children to receive gifts from incarcerated parents via community advocates
the Good Shepherd Catholic Parish out of Visalia.
How it works:
During the holiday season, ambassadors from Prison Fellowship Ministry’s Angel Tree program reach out to people who are incarcerated to inquire if they would like to participate in the program. Children who receive gifts through the program do so only if their parent chooses to participate in the program.
A Christmas tree is placed at each church that participates. On that tree are hanging angels that have the information of a child who has a parent who is incarcerated. A parishioner can than pick an “angel” they would like to purchase a gift for.
When that gift is wrapped it is returned to that participating church with the angel taped to the gift. On the angel is a special message from the child’s parent.
For Fred Mendrin, who is the local ambassador for the Angel Tree program, the opportunity to serve these children is one he wouldn’t miss.
“It means that I can reach out to those children who are separated from their parents,” said Mendrin. “To give them hope that their parents are loving them by sending them gifts.”
Mendrin got involved in Prison Fellowship Ministry years ago while incarcerated himself. He now calls himself a returned citizen, not an ex-convict. While in prison, Mendrin remembers sending his young son a poem. It wasn’t until much later, after being released from prison, that he realized the impact that small gift made.
“He told me, ‘Dad, you have no idea how much that meant to me. I showed everybody’,” recalled Mendrin.
Having now worked with the Angel Tree program for five years, Mendrin finds solace in allowing others to be able to reach out to their own children.
He said, “To be able to give back now, to give back and give them hope...It
Wawona to pay $4.5 million for employee involved accident
2017 incident occurred just east of Dinuba
Sentinel staff report
Fruit packing company Wawona has agreed to pay $4.5 million to settle a lawsuit involving a man who was badly injured in a two-vehicle accident. The plaintiff, Jose Salvador Garza, an employee of Wawona Packing Company, sued his employer after a co-worker, driving a passenger van towing a metal trailer, jumped a stop-sign without having the right-of-way. The settlement was finalized late last week.
The defendant driver, Aurelio Castro Patino was towing a trailer carrying approximately 20 ladders and a port-a-potty on his way into the orchards with other employees to pick fruit. The accident happened on May 1, 2017 at the intersection of Road 96 and Avenue 416 in unincorporated Tulare County.
Mr. Garza, who was not working at the time, attempted to steer around Patino’s van to the right, in an effort to avoid the crash, hitting the metal trailer. The plaintiff suffered damage to his spinal cord and a traumatic brain injury. The plaintiff argued Wawona Packing failed to adequately train its employees on how to haul trailers, took advantage of hiring illegal immigrants, and failed to “take care of their own.” “This community is mostly comprised of hard working, family oriented individuals employed by large packing companies and the defendant had a responsibility to make things right,” said plaintiff attorney Doug Rochen. “The resolution is appropriate for the severity of our client’s injuries,” added Rochen.
“Mr. Garza’s life will never be the same because of this accident. This settlement will make an enormous difference in his quality of life,” said plaintiff attorney Boris Treyzon.
DINUBA GLASS CO.
Auto • Comercial • Shower Doors Mirrors • Screens
MILGARD REPLACEMENT WINDOWS NO STUCCO DAMAGE
By Rick Curiel
Editor@thedinubasentinel.com
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tell his disciples, “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was sick and you visited, I was in prison and you came to me.”
During the holidays, the spirit of Christmas can be seen in many forms. For the less fortunate, there are food banks, services and ministries throughout the Valley that help feed, and even dress, those Christ calls the least of him.
But often times, some of the least, those being the ones in prison, often go without being served. That’s where Angel Tree, a Christmas program through Prison Fellowship Ministry steps in.
Angel Tree has been in existence for 40 years now and has continued to grow throughout the nation. This year Angel Tree will be serving 35 children in the Dinuba and Cutler-Orosi area who otherwise might not get to experience receiving a gift from their father or mother because of the unfortunate circumstance of incarceration.
For St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Cutler, who is participating in the program for the first time this year, Angel Tree meets a need in the community.
“There’s a demand here in Cutler- Orosi,” said St. Mary’s secretary Yesenia Meraz. “Just yesterday my daughter called me scared because her school was on lockdown, because of a shooting. There’s gang violence here all the time, so that’s what motivates us to help out the children.”
St. Mary’s, which has just under 1,000 parishioners, will be serving 10 children in the Cutler-Orosi area. Of the ten, two children from Sultana will receive gifts, one child from Orosi will receive a gift and two from Cutler will also receive gifts. The two children from Cutler will receive gifts on behalf of their step- father.
There are 25 children in the Dinuba area. Those children will be served out of
Rick Curiel | The Sentinel
Yesenia Meraz, secretary of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Cutler, places angels on tree to help serve local children through Angel Tree ministry.
means everything to me to be able to serve.”
When Angel Tree first started in 1978, the program was able to provide 300 gifts to children. This year the program anticipates providing gifts for up to 300,000 children.
Mendrin has also organized a gathering at Dinuba's Family Restaurant
on Dec. 15, where the children can gather to receive their gifts, something he said has been successful in the past.
Said Mendrin, “It gives them a sense of community, knowing that they are not the only ones who have parents in prison.”
For more information on the Angel Tree program, visit angeltree.org.
Hours: 10am - 10pm
1405 W El Monte Way
Dinuba • 559-315-5191
Find us ANYTIME on the web
At home...
or on your mobile device
www.thedinubasentinel.com OR
• Energy Efficient
• Reduces Noise
• Full Lifetime Warranty
Free Se Habla Estimates Español
228 NORTH “L” ST. DINUBA • 595-1959
To subscribe to the Sentinel, call 591-4632.
02893