Persistence pays off for clothing drive

Filed: 12/20/2000

By LINDA SAPPINGTON

Californian correspondent

RIDGECREST - More than one ton of children's clothing began a journey Tuesday aboard a C-141 jet bound for Bosnia, where the garments will be distributed to orphans and land mine victims just in time for Christmas.

Project creator and coordinator David Rosenthal - a China Lake International Rotarian and pilot with the California National Guard - recognized the extreme needs of the Bosnian children while flying MEDEVAC helicopters for NATO during 1998 and 1999.

"The economy in Bosnia has been devastated," Rosenthal said. "Half of the buildings are demolished and the country's unemployment rate is around 40 percent. The people that need help really need it."

Rotary Club members in China Lake's district - including Santa Monica, Simi Valley and Solvang - collected 2,400 pounds of clothing. The items were packed with the help of college-age Rotoract volunteers and stored in a hangar at Point Mugu Naval Air Station, ready to be transported to March Air Reserve Base for shipment overseas.

The 15-month project utilized resources available through the Denton Program, a cooperative venture of the Department of Defense and the U.S. Agency for International Development. The program allows humanitarian materials to be transported via military resources on a space-available basis.

As the Christmas deadline neared, Rosenthal fought paperwork delays, customs inspection requirements and transportation glitches.

"The Denton Program is very paperwork-intensive because they want to make sure resources are applied correctly," said Rosenthal, who was able to acquire a duty-free entry license for materials through Bosnia's largest children's humanitarian program, Nasa Djeca.

Yet the problem of getting the clothing on the first and shortest journey - roughly 150 miles from Pt. Mugu to March Air Reserve Base - remained unsolved.

Hoping to avoid a $1,300 freight bill, Rosenthal asked the International Brotherhood of Teamsters whether they would offer a hand. Teamsters voluntarily trucked the apparel to March Air Reserve Base, where the 452nd Aerial Port Support Flight volunteers loaded the packages onto pallets for Tuesday's flight.

The clothing is currently traveling by Air Force cargo aircraft to Germany, and will complete the trip with a two-hour flight to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Members of three Bosnian Rotary Clubs will distribute the clothing equally and impartially with the aid of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Nasa Djeca at five centers around the country.

"(This project) taught me persistence is everything," said Rosenthal, adding it took a tremendous effort by many volunteers. "And it's still not over. I'm waiting for confirmation that the clothes are in the hands of children."