PACOIMA : Mothers Send Gifts to Kin of Blast Victims

As far back as she can remember, Lupe Padilla and her close friends have gathered every Mother’s Day to exchange news of the triumphs and failures of their families, shoot the breeze, share a pot of tea and a few laughs.

But this year, the usually happy celebration was marred by the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City.

“We were sitting together thinking, we’re so lucky to spend Mother’s Day knowing that our children are alive and safe,” said Padilla, 51, of Pacoima. “We wanted to do something to tell the mothers of the children who died in the explosion that we are thinking of them and the pain they are in.”

Padilla said she and her friends do not have a lot of money. So they decided to send handcrafted presents to the mothers of the children killed in the Oklahoma bombing.

“It’s a very small thing, I know. But we wanted to do it.”

Padilla and her friends, Rosario Espinoza, Rosa Cuevas, Norma Cardenas, Carmen Verdin, Poli Martinez and Maria Moreno, all mothers, all Pacoima residents, crafted the items with great care--as if the items were intended for their own families, Padilla said.

They knitted and crocheted potholders, baby blankets, pillow cases, tissue box covers and place mats, in addition to fashioning small refrigerator magnets, wall decorations and paper flower arrangements.

The items will be mailed through Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon’s office to the families of those killed in the tragedy. At least 167 were killed, including 19 children in a day-care center inside the building.