Twenty minutes before the scheduled 3 to 6 p.m. donation drop-off time slot, the Child & Family Center in Santa Clarita already had several tables full of items to help families impacted by the Los Angeles fires.  According to Child & Family Center officials, the mental health and behavioral health service provider joined the Los Angeles-based Baby2Baby nonprofit organization to host a donation drive Wednesday afternoon at the Child & Family Center on Centre Pointe Parkway.    “We’re trying to make this as easy as possible,” said Nikki Buckstead, Child & Family center CEO. “We saw people in the community getting antsy, like, ‘Where can we go?’ ‘We don’t want to wait.’ And also, folks don’t know where to go in L.A. to drop things off.”  Child & Family Center officials put a call out for brand-new items in their original packaging, including training pants for toddlers, body wash and soap, toothpaste, blankets, feminine hygiene products, activity books for children, baby formula and diapers. The center immediately received support.  Longtime Child & Family Center supporters Joyce Carson and Dorum Schleifer were there helping collect the donations that came rolling in by the cartload.   Joyce Carson, past board member and long-time volunteer, and her husband, Doron Schleifer, stand with donations during the Child and Family Center Donation Drive for Fire Victims on Wednesday, Jan. 15. Habeba Mostafa/The Signal Carson, who was a Child & Family Center board member for years, said she wanted to do whatever she could to assist the center.  “I support all their activities,” she said. “Of course, with the fires, I think everyone out here in Santa Clarita wants to do their part to support our community and our state.”  A representative from the office of Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, added diapers to the growing collection of goods in the building.   In a phone call, Schiavo spoke about how grateful she was for Santa Clarita Valley residents who were coming together to offer support to those affected by the fires.  “This is why we love this community,” she said.  Saugus resident Miriam Larsen, who works at the Hasley Canyon Road Starbucks coffee shop in Castaic, was at the center on Wednesday donating goods that she and co-workers from her store and the Stevenson Ranch Starbucks location had purchased with tip money they’d collected.  Larsen came with boxes of goods, including soap, toothpaste, snacks and more. She said her store donated Starbucks coffee, plastic drink tumblers and bags that fire victims could use to carry items they pick up.  “A couple coworkers and I were a little upset about, obviously, everything that’s going on,” Larsen said as she unloaded items she was donating. “We felt like we could do more as a community. This is our backyard. We’re part of L.A. County.”  Child and Family Center Chief Executive Officer Nikki Buckstead, left, and Saugus resident Miriam Larsen hold items bought with tips collected by Larsen and her Starbucks co-workers during the Child and Family Center Donation Drive for Fire Victims on Wednesday, Jan. 15. Habeba Mostafa/The Signal She added that when a tragedy like this happens, she always finds that she puts herself in the victim’s shoes. Doing that immediately allows her to see the need. For example, if she found that she had to evacuate her home, grabbing her work clothes, special work shoes and other basic needs like that would not be on her radar.   Some people lost everything, she said, and so many take for granted the simple activity of sitting at home and having dinner at a kitchen table with their family.  “If I can spend four hours of my day going shopping and collecting and finding a donation center and dropping it off,” Larsen said, “it seems crazy not to.”  Outside in the parking lot, Angie Morgenstern from the SCV Birth Center on Lyons Avenue in Newhall was loading up several carts of goods to donate. She said the birth center called for donations in a post on social media earlier in the week, and many of their clients responded.  Morgenstern made several trips between her minivan and the Child & Family Center, adding to the collection of goods that was beginning to overflow into an adjoining room in the education building.  Angie Morgenstern, right, hands off donations to Child and Family Center security guard Obed Quintero on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at the Child and Family Center in Santa Clarita for families impacted by the Los Angeles fires. Michael Picarella/The Signal According to Buckstead, all items collected at the drive were to be delivered to Baby2Baby on Thursday. Those in need, she added, will be able to go directly to Baby2Baby to pick up what they need.  “Child and Family Center responds to the community anytime there are needs,” Buckstead said. “We were definitely there during the Saugus High shooting that happened, offering support and services to the students and the teachers and the community at that time. We’re just doing the same thing here. While we focus on mental health and substance use and domestic violence, when there’s any natural disaster or emergency event in the community, we want to be able to respond.”  For more information about the drive or to help, contact Cheryl Jones at [email protected] or visit ChildFamilyCenter.org.  Toiletries, household items and blankets, among other things, were donated to the Child and Family Center Donation Drive for Fire Victims on Wednesday, Jan. 15. Habeba Mostafa/The Signal Cheryl Jones, vice president of marketing and community outreach, left, Joyce Carson, past board member and long-time volunteer, center, and Carlos Cruz, facility technician, stand with the stuffed animals that were donated during the Child and Family Center Donation Drive for Fire Victims on Wednesday, Jan. 15. Habeba Mostafa/The Signal Tables fill up with donations on Wednesday, Jan. 15, at the Child and Family Center in Santa Clarita for families impacted by the Los Angeles fires. Michael Picarella/The Signal The post Child & Family Center donation drive seeks to help fire victims  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.