DELIVERING HOLIDAY JOY; POSTAL WORKERS TO HAND OUT TOYS FOR KIDS.

Byline: Bhavna Mistry Daily News Staff Writer

Growing up in East Los Angeles, Thomas Gonzalez may not have had everything he always wanted but he always made sure others did.

Twenty-four years later, the 37-year-old Palmdale man still knows how to make others feel special: he and seven U.S. Postal Service co-workers arranged presents for 135 foster children and organized a party for them and their families.

``I know what it's like when a child wakes up at Christmas and not have anything,'' Gonzalez said. ``At least this way they'll have a gift to open.''

A modest man who doesn't credit himself, Gonzalez began his charity work as an eighth-grader when he and his older brother would invite younger neighborhood children to a party.

The older brother dressed up as Santa Claus. Classmates helped out. They served cookies and punch and would pass out toys they had collected.

``We just had all the toys in a big bag and we'd reach in and according to their ages you gave them a gift,'' Gonzalez said. ``Ever since then, I just kept doing it. We haven't missed a year yet.''

This summer, Gonzalez began contacting stores to make donations for his Christmas program. He post cards representing the children on a board at the Palmdale Post Office Depot and asked other postal employees to adopt a child.

This year, the effort will provide toys and clothing to 135 foster children. Social workers provided Gonzalez and the postal committee with a list of children's ages and clothes sizes.

The gifts are kept in the postmaster's office, but Gonzalez and the others do the work on their own time.

``I go over the list 20-30 times and make sure that a kid is not missed,'' he said.

In addition to assisting children, each year the group will buy, cook and deliver complete Christmas meals for several families selected by postal workers on their routes.

The dinners are financed by postal workers' donations.

``We pass an envelope around, hold raffles, bake sales,'' Gonzalez said. ``We have people who donate on top of that.

One of the postal carriers on the committee is a chef and will cook all of the meals at his home after returning from his regular postal route.

After delivering all of the meals Christmas Eve, the committee returns to each home with Santa and presents.

This year, one of the families receiving a Christmas dinner is one of the Postal Service's own. The committee will visit the family of a postal worker on medical leave suffering with lupus, a chronic inflammatory disease.

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Photo

PHOTO (Color) Palmdale postal workers, from left, Kathy Economu, Norris Conic, Cathy Lacsamana, Postmaster Brian Camarillo, Thomas Gonzalez and Nancy Griffin are part of an effort Gonzalez began to collect toys for needy foster children.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News