October 27, 2007

Birthday boy gives presents to fire victim
Zachary Fogel offers gifts to friend's cousin, who lost his home.
By RACHANEE SRISAVASDI
The Orange County Register

Thirty-four children came to Zachary Fogel's eighth birthday party at a bowling alley at Cal State Fullerton Saturday bearing presents.

But Zachary wouldn't take them.

Instead, the Rolling Hills Elementary School student asked his friends to hand the gifts over to a boy he never met before Saturday – his friend's 10-year-old cousin, whose family lost their Fallbrook home to the wildfires.

"When you lose a house, I can imagine it feels worse than giving away all your presents," said Zachary, explaining why he decided to give his gifts to Joshua Sayler. "It must feel really good for someone to lose everything, then gain it back up."

The friends – actually their parents – had been given a heads-up. Zachary's mother, Beth Fogel, e-mailed them and said Zachary wanted them to bring gifts for Joshua instead. Many brought gifts for both boys.

Joshua's home burned down Tuesday, after an ember lit the house. His family had two minutes to evacuate. Joshua lost everything, except the clothes he wore. He has been staying with relatives in Fullerton since Thursday.

At the party, Joshua was surprised by the gifts, which included a silver scooter, games such as Connect Four and the latest Harry Potter book – which Joshua was in the middle of reading.

On the car ride home, Joshua kept repeating, "I can't believe I got all this stuff," family members said.

"I felt really bad," Joshua said of the fire. "But today, it was fun to see all the stuff. I felt good."

Baseball coach and family friend Kevin Alderson said, pointing to the gifts, "I coach that guy, and I always say to him it's the play on the field that's important. And that's the right play here."