‘Santa on steroids’ saves day

Thieves stole just about everything Curtis Walch owned Monday night.

His Bible, a Tom Clancy novel and other personal effects that he had bundled in his backpack — all gone. His friend, another homeless man living on the streets of Costa Mesa, fared worse. They stole his shoes. Walch tried to warn him, but his friend said he didn’t like to sleep with his shoes on. Later on, the two went over to the Salvation Army thrift store where he was told to pick out a pair of shoes.

And fortunately for Walch, the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen was giving out backpacks full of goodies to the down-and-out at the organization’s annual Christmas dinner Tuesday. As carolers entertained hungry would-be diners waiting in line outside the soup kitchen, Walch explained how he has come to depend on agencies like Someone Cares.

“I’ve been living on the streets on and off since I was 14,” he said matter-of-factly. Alcohol’s the main problem (“I don’t do drugs anymore.”) Well, that and a lot of heartache from failed relationships. “I find a good woman, figure out a way to screw that up and, well ... ”

He gets by with day labor work, but it’s usually spotty this time of the year, especially in the spiraling economy.

It’s getting harder to find shelter when it gets so lean he can’t afford a motel, but the folks at the Lighthouse Community Church at least open the doors, “especially if it’s drenching rain,” he said.

After he had dinner, he hugged Ellie Weaver, Someone Cares Soup Kitchen’s administrative coordinator, and went to get a backpack. Walch was an accomplished ballet dancer in New York once, but his life fell apart after a divorce and his move to California. Apparently, he was well-known enough that some dancers in Laguna Beach invited him to join their company, but Weaver said she saw him the next morning and he was already drunk.

Stories like Walch’s have moved Corey Donaldson, a Costa Mesa businessman who volunteered to coordinate this year’s backpack-full-of-goodies giveaway and the Someone Cares toy drive and distribution, which was also Tuesday.