SPREADING THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON

GROUP'S PARTIES ON THE MALL BRING HOLIDAY TO CITY'S HOMELESS

Robert Gaines wiped his eyes with his new, red plaid scarf yesterday as he was surrounded by his wife and daughters amid the chaos and cheer of a party for nearly 1,000 homeless children in a straw-strewn tent near the Capitol dome.

"We did get a miracle for Christmas. We got people that love us enough to give us clothes, food and presents. I could never have afforded all this," Gaines said, clutching a soft, stuffed bear named Kringle.

"It'll be a Christmas for us to remember. I haven't had a Christmas this big in my whole life," said Gaines, 35.

Gaines, a disabled construction worker, moved his family to the Capitol City Inn shelter three weeks ago after being evicted for not paying rent at a Northwest apartment.

He gestured at the tentful of families, enjoying the first of two Christmas Eve parties held for the homeless on the Mall at Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SW. The second party was a sit-down afternoon dinner for homeless adults. Both were sponsored by the Community for Creative Non-Violence, an advocacy group headed by Mitch Snyder. Yesterday's celebration was the fifth annual party hosted by CCNV. In the past two years, the parties have grown to include guests from all shelters in the city.

Synder said yesterday's events cost about $150,000, donated in cash, food or gifts by corporations, coalitions and individuals. For example, the Barcelona Nut Processing Co. donated 4,000 pounds of chicken. Polaroid Corp. offered photographers, film and cameras and each child was photographed with a celebrity and given a framed copy of the color picture.

Harold Sutton, 13, said that the photo of him being hugged by his hero, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard, would be "a treasure forever." Leonard said Harold brightened his holiday, too.

"When these kids smile and I think about where they are I am so touched that for a minute they can forget all their adversity," Leonard said.

Other invited celebrities, including actors Valerie Harper and Martin Sheen, played with the children, hugged their families and offered words of encouragement.

"They are us. The only difference between me and the homeless is a roof," Harper said. "If you drive by or walk by the homeless without letting it enter you, your soul is lost."

Hundreds of less prominent men and women from the Washington area spent the day serving at the parties instead of last-minute shopping or cooking. "This is what it's all about. It's the spirit of the season," said volunteer Doretta Profetta, 35, a waitress from Fairfax. "It's double therapy. It helps me as much as it helps anyone else."

Outside the tent, drizzle and fog replaced dreams of a white Christmas with gray reality. Inside the tent, mud soaked through the straw scattered to absorb it.

Dozens of round tables were decked in red or green. Plates were heaped with ham sandwiches and candy-dabbled cookies. Wreaths with handmade decorations centered each table.

One flush-faced little girl grabbed at a coal-eyed Frosty the Snowman, made of cotton, cardboard and red and black pieces of felt. But the snowman was taped down so that he would survive the party for the children and remain to decorate the afternoon dinner for grown-ups.

A smiling angel, dressed in white and sporting orange, yellow and red wings, was signed in the lead pencil scrawl of schoolchildren by the artist, Jesse Winston.

Juggles the clown wore a red-sequined bow tie and held a jumpy skunk named "Stinky" for children to pet. Juggles tweaked noses and ponytails and spread smiles to tiny faces.

"I like the clowns the best. They gave me stuff," Gaines' daughter Robben, 6, said, displaying a pink tattoo, a blue whistle and a yellow toy figurine. "Santa Claus gave me all those presents. I'm going to open them tomorrow -- that's Christmas Day. First, I have to go to sleep, then wake up in order to get my toys."

Articles appear as they were originally printed in The Washington Post and may not include subsequent corrections.