Happy Helpers

"THEY ARE so happy when they open their gifts. They give us the biggest hugs."Bobbi Coffman is not referring to children on Christmas morning in describing this scene. Rather, she is recalling the grateful reactions as homeless men and women opened donated gifts at Happy Helpers for the Homeless Christmas parties.The Happy Helpers youth organization provides food, entertainment and gifts each year to people who usually have little to celebrate. Their seventh gathering will take place Dec. 18 in Glen Burnie.

Happy Helpers plans celebration Happy Helpers for the Homeless will host their annual National Youth Service Day Celebration at 5 p.m. tomorrow at Chuck E. Cheese's, 6637 Ritchie Highway, Glen Burnie. Happy Helpers will transport the children whom they serve to this event for dinner, games and gifts. This is the 13th year that Happy Helpers for the Homeless has held this event. Information: 410-766-4973. Lexus dealers sponsor ASO The Baltimore/Annapolis Lexus Dealers Association has granted a corporate sponsorship to the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra that will span three concert seasons.

GLEN BURNIE'S Happy Helpers for the Homeless celebrated an anniversary recently. For four years, the group has provided food, toiletries and friendship to homeless people in Glen Burnie and Baltimore.Happy Helpers' founder, ninth-grader Amber Coffman, and her mom, Bobbi, welcome volunteers into their kitchen every Saturday to help prepare bag lunches for distribution to more than 300 needy people.Last weekend, three teen-age volunteers -- Nicole Russ, Erica Brown and Brandon Renninger -- joined the kitchen crew to help hand out pieces of three large cakes to homeless people in Baltimore.

Betty Wilson comes regularly to the corner of the Fallsway and Madison Street, the place where volunteers set up tables each Sunday and pass out food and clothes to homeless and destitute people. The 75-year-old grandmother, who has health problems and uses a wheelchair, said she is grateful for the bread and supplies she receives. But yesterday, Wilson had a special reason to line up along with nearly 300 other people in the rain: an Easter basket. Wilson wanted one of the colorful baskets of candy and toys to give to her 13-year-old grandson, Brandon.

Sitting in the kitchen, absent-mindedly decapitating gingerbread men, we tried to find sense in the madness that surrounded us."First it was multicolored chasing lights around the garage. Last year it was twinkling lights in clear plastic tubes shaped like Santa and his reindeer," she said softly. "This year? I'm not sure, but it appears to require several singing puppet-like creatures."I winced, anticipating my neighbor's yard occupied by harmonizing mannequins.Our spouses were getting out of hand.

IT'S A WIN-WIN situation. By enjoying a delicious meal at the North County Emergency Outreach Network's Bull and Oyster Roast, you can help others put a meal on their own table. The 11th annual roast will be from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 4 at the Columbian Center, Ritchie Highway in Severna Park. Tickets are $25, and proceeds support the group's mission of providing food and other emergency support to the needy. The menu includes pit beef and ham, oysters on the half shell, oyster stew, fried oysters, barbecue ribs, soft drinks and beer.

Color her tickled.Amber Coffman, the Glen Burnie girl who formed an organization to help the homeless, has been named the "Ultimate Crayola True Blue Hero" and will have a crayon named after her.Amber, 15, was chosen from among 10,000 nominations for the top honor in the Crayola Search for True Blue Heroes. She was honored for her work as the founder and director of Happy Helpers for the Homeless, which has helped more than 26,000 homeless people. She started this work when she was 8 years old.Amber was nominated by Jesse Pittman, 7, of Davidsonville, one of the volunteers.

Happy Helpers plans celebration Happy Helpers for the Homeless will host their annual National Youth Service Day Celebration at 5 p.m. tomorrow at Chuck E. Cheese's, 6637 Ritchie Highway, Glen Burnie. Happy Helpers will transport the children whom they serve to this event for dinner, games and gifts. This is the 13th year that Happy Helpers for the Homeless has held this event. Information: 410-766-4973. Lexus dealers sponsor ASO The Baltimore/Annapolis Lexus Dealers Association has granted a corporate sponsorship to the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra that will span three concert seasons.

Amber Coffman of Glen BurnieVolunteer Work: Amber, a sixth-grade student at Old Mill Middle School in Millersville, demonstrates that volunteers come in all ages. Although just 11, she organized the Happy Helpers For the Homeless last March.Every Saturday beginning at 11:30 a.m., Amber and other young volunteers gather at her apartment in Glen Burnie and put together lunches of sandwiches, fruits, pastries and a drink. Her mother takes them to the Glen Burnie Salvation Army Office by 1 p.m. to be handed out to area homeless and needy.

At 21 years old, Amber Coff- man still hasn't gotten her driver's license. But the Glen Burnie native seems to have done just about everything else. By age 10, she had founded an organization to feed the homeless. By age 15, she had won the Miss Teen USA Maryland title. She has met two presidents, appeared on several national talk shows, and been featured in eight books and several magazines. She even has a crayon named after her. Last week, the Pepperdine University junior added a new accolade to her resume: presidential appointee.

At 21 years old, Amber Coff- man still hasn't gotten her driver's license. But the Glen Burnie native seems to have done just about everything else. By age 10, she had founded an organization to feed the homeless. By age 15, she had won the Miss Teen USA Maryland title. She has met two presidents, appeared on several national talk shows, and been featured in eight books and several magazines. She even has a crayon named after her. Last week, the Pepperdine University junior added a new accolade to her resume: presidential appointee.

At 21 years old, Amber Coffman still hasn't gotten her driver's license. But the Glen Burnie native seems to have done just about everything else. By age 10, she had founded an organization to feed the homeless. By age 15, she had won the Miss Teen USA Maryland title. She has met two presidents, appeared on several national talk shows, and been featured in eight books and several magazines. She even has a crayon named after her. Last week, the Pepperdine University junior added a new accolade to her resume: presidential appointee.

NEARLY A DOZEN New Windsor Middle School pupils spent the last of their school days packing bags of towels, toothbrushes and other personal items for the homeless in Baltimore. The children, members of the after-school club, Students Helping Others and Understanding Themselves, or SHOUT, learned of the need through a school secretary, said social studies teacher Lisa Lardieri, the club's adult adviser. The secretary knew that Uniontown Bible Church worked with the nonprofit group Happy Helpers for the Homeless.

IT'S A WIN-WIN situation. By enjoying a delicious meal at the North County Emergency Outreach Network's Bull and Oyster Roast, you can help others put a meal on their own table. The 11th annual roast will be from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 4 at the Columbian Center, Ritchie Highway in Severna Park. Tickets are $25, and proceeds support the group's mission of providing food and other emergency support to the needy. The menu includes pit beef and ham, oysters on the half shell, oyster stew, fried oysters, barbecue ribs, soft drinks and beer.

"THEY ARE so happy when they open their gifts. They give us the biggest hugs."Bobbi Coffman is not referring to children on Christmas morning in describing this scene. Rather, she is recalling the grateful reactions as homeless men and women opened donated gifts at Happy Helpers for the Homeless Christmas parties.The Happy Helpers youth organization provides food, entertainment and gifts each year to people who usually have little to celebrate. Their seventh gathering will take place Dec. 18 in Glen Burnie.

SO HOW'S your holiday decorating going?" my friend asked as she sidestepped a light-up plastic Santa face I swear I have thrown out every January since 1978.Surrounded by an array of tangled tinsel, wickless candles and a denuded miniature Christmas tree, I did not respond. I could summon no holiday spirit."What's wrong with her?" she asked my son as he worked to disengage himself from an 11-foot orange extension cord my husband insisted we could discreetly work into the living room decor."

NEARLY A DOZEN New Windsor Middle School pupils spent the last of their school days packing bags of towels, toothbrushes and other personal items for the homeless in Baltimore. The children, members of the after-school club, Students Helping Others and Understanding Themselves, or SHOUT, learned of the need through a school secretary, said social studies teacher Lisa Lardieri, the club's adult adviser. The secretary knew that Uniontown Bible Church worked with the nonprofit group Happy Helpers for the Homeless.

THIS ISN'T the first recognition of Amber Coffman, nor will it be the last.Among the earliest was a community item in The Sun six years ago: "The Anne Arundel County Volunteer Firemen's Association invites everyone to the annual Miss Fire Prevention and Junior Miss Fire Prevention contest at the Riviera Beach Fire Hall on Fort Smallwood Road." Among the junior contestants listed was "Amber Coffman from Linthicum." She was 10.That year, Amber researched a school project on Mother Teresa. Her report, and a visit to the Sarah's House shelter for women and children near Fort Meade, inspired her to organize Happy Helpers for the Homeless.

SO HOW was the homecoming dance?" my friend asked my son. "Did you and your little girlfriend have a nice time?"I shot him my "Do-not-even-think-about- starting-on-this-again" look, but it was easily deflected by his own "Don't-ever-think-for-a-minute-I- will-forget-how-you-embarrassed- me" stare."What did she do, sweetheart?" my friend asked, instantly alert to tension. "Control issues again?"Moving to the center of the room, my son launched into a melodramatic re-enactment of how I followed him to his date's house -- a set of grandparents, a couple of aunts and six rolls of Kodak 100 film in tow.I was quick to remind them both that the entire incident could have been avoided if he had brought the group to our home to be photographed on the shores of Marley Creek."

THIS ISN'T the first recognition of Amber Coffman, nor will it be the last.Among the earliest was a community item in The Sun six years ago: "The Anne Arundel County Volunteer Firemen's Association invites everyone to the annual Miss Fire Prevention and Junior Miss Fire Prevention contest at the Riviera Beach Fire Hall on Fort Smallwood Road." Among the junior contestants listed was "Amber Coffman from Linthicum." She was 10.That year, Amber researched a school project on Mother Teresa. Her report, and a visit to the Sarah's House shelter for women and children near Fort Meade, inspired her to organize Happy Helpers for the Homeless.