SANTA'S HELPERS DONORS' PRESENTS WARM HEARTS AND BODIES.

Byline: CONNIE LLANOS  Staff Writer

SAUGUS -- For dynamic mom duo Michelle Ewing and Rebecca Berens, every day is about giving.

After meeting in a mother's club eight years ago, the two stay-at-home moms have been involved in endless community service projects.

And during the holidays, the pair kicks the philanthropy into high gear, gathering hundreds of gifts for disadvantaged families.

``We do food drives and Boy Scout events but this is our baby,'' Ewing said Tuesday, as she hauled off the last bag of donated coats from Mountainview Elementary's main office.

The twosome was joined by a group of Mountainview sixth-graders and a half dozen helpful moms as they separated hundreds of donated gifts.

``I am always amazed by the generosity of this school, every single year,'' Berens said.

The energetic moms have been working with the county's Santa Clarita Valley Community Center since 1998, when the team gathered gifts for 20 families.

This year Berens and Ewing were able to brighten the holidays to more than 100 families, and 20 elderly and mentally disabled people.

``Kids here are very fortunate, and we want them to realize how fortunate they really are,'' Berens said.

Berens specifically remembered the lesson in gratitude learned by her children when they accompanied her to a gift delivery.

``This older Korean lady, living in this tiny apartment with her bedridden son, was so grateful that we were thinking of her that as we gave her food, she handed my children candy bars -- what little she could spare,'' Berens said.

For many parents, donating gifts to other families is the best way to teach their children about the spirit of the holidays.

``I asked my kids to pick out the one gift they would pick if they could only have one present. They were blown away by that,'' Mountainview parent Tiffany Groscost said.

Ewing agreed that many of the comments she hears after the gift drive regards the effects it has on more affluent children.

``I get so many parents that thank me for giving them a chance to teach their children about a community less fortunate,'' she said.

Still, for these moms of young children, sometimes the hardest obstacle is getting around the Santa Claus question.

``We just tell them we are giving Santa Claus a little help,'' Berens said.

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(1 -- 2) Above, sixth-graders at Mountainview Elementary School haul bags of coats the school collected for families in need. At left, Rebecca Berens, left, and Michelle Ewing get help from first-graders Carly Mattila, Danielle Withers and Melissa Dewey sorting out gifts for more than 100 needy families. Berens and Ewing have headed the gift drive at Mountainview elementary school for six years. The Santa Clarita Valley Community Center and Salvation Army will distribute the gifts to families in the area.

David Crane/Staff Photographer