The Weekly Newspaper of Torrance Herald Publications - Torrance, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 7, No. 7 - February 16, 2017 Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................2 Classifieds............................6 Crossword/Sudoku.............6 Legals....................................7 Pets........................................4 Police Briefs........................3 Real Estate...........................8 Sports....................................3 TerriAnn in Torrance..........5 Weekend Forecast Torrance Babies Celebrate Heart Month with Red Hats Baby Merrick Shamsid-Deen is one of approximately 200 babies born at Providence Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Torrance who are receiving red hats knitted and crocheted by volunteers for the American Heart Association’s new Little Hats, Big Hearts program, sponsored by Union Bank. The program, which began in Chicago in 2014 and debuts in Los Angeles this year, celebrates healthy babies and moms while raising awareness of heart disease, the number one killer of Americans; and congenital heart defects, the most common type of birth defect in the country affecting at least 40,000 babies each year. During the month of February, the Little Hats, Big Hearts program provides handmade hats to newborn babies in more than 400 hospitals, including nine in Los Angeles County, in 40 states across the country in celebration of Heart Month. Baby Merrick with nurses Ari Meyers and Rena Kadiu. Photo Courtesy of the American Heart Association.• Pastor’s Mission to Prevent People from Going Hungry Continues to Grow By Cristian Vasquez Since 1981, Pastor John Ross Hernandez and New Challenge Ministries have been helping people in need of food. Since then, through the help and commitment of volunteers and generous donors, New Challenge Ministries has grown in ways Pastor John never imagined. With the help of founder and Rev. Mark Flick and John Snider, New Challenge Ministries was created and the residential Discipleship program has been in operation ever since. Hernandez, who is now Senior Pastor, took over the daily operations in 1990 when Flick retired. However, the reputation of New Challenge What’s Keeping People Away from Local Beaches? By Rob McCarthy The South Bay is shaped by the coastline, and so is the lifestyle in those communities. Locals choose to live here for the ocean views and the vibe that comes from living near the water. The beach belongs to every Californian. However, throngs of would-be visitors never come to visit, and now we know why. “If you say ‘California’ to anybody, the coast or the beach is going to be one of the first things that pops into anyone’s mind,” said Jon Christensen, who just released the results of a statewide survey about what prevents Californians from enjoying the beaches. What Christensen and his co-researchers discovered is the state’s beaches are beyond the budgets of many residents, especially people with lower incomes and families. Going to the beach costs money, the survey by UCLA and San Francisco State University found. They priced a day trip to the beach (almost $37) and an overnight stay ($605) and found those travel costs were way beyond what Californians were willing to pay to use the beach or stay a night. On average, people are willing to pay $8.75 for parking and $117 for overnight accommodations. Households making less than $50,908 wanted to pay $78 for overnight accommodations, limiting their options to flopping on a friend’s couch or camping. See Local Beaches, page 4 Ministries has kept growing as more and more people reach out to the group for help. Unlike its beginnings when New Challenge was only capable of reaching a small group of individuals, things have significantly changed. “I truly believe that the more donations that we receive from stores, the more we can help,” Pastor John said. “Since there are so many people and other organizations calling us to help, distributing the food is no longer a such a challenge. When it comes time to distribute, we call around and let people know what we have and they will come pick up donations to help with distribution. Like the time we received 8,000 pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas, we were able to distribute within a 24-hour period.” In addition to providing food and clothing for families and children in need, New Challenge provides individualized programs and a structured environment for assisted individuals to transition back to sober living. Through the work accomplished by New Challenge and its volunteers, donors have grown to include local and national businesses such as Bristol Farms, Trader Joe’s, Ralph’s, Amazon Prime, Walmart, Odwalla, KFC, Starbucks, Restaurant Depot, Coco’s, Pepsi, Pizza Hut and Yogurtland. With such a high volume of donations, food is distributed among many Torrance families, as well families associated with as AmVets, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Washington Prep High School, LA Southwest College, the Boys and Girls Club, several Homeless Distribution Groups, day labor camps, foster children, military families and shelter organizations. For Vincent Samuel, President West Athens Westmont Task Force, working throughout South Los Angeles helping families led him to New Challenge Ministries. It didn’t take long for him to connect with Pastor John in the mission to help anyone in need. “We have chickens, hams, vegetables and clothing to give and I’m smiling the whole way through,” Samuel said. “When you see a kid put something on, it’s Friday See Pastor’s Mission, page 7 Heavy Rain/ Wind 59˚/55˚ Saturday Showers 62˚/51˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 62˚/54˚
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