WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers WOMAN POWER—Members of the charity group Girls on a Mission gather March 3 at the Camarillobased Casa Pacifica, a facility for abused children, with items they've brought for donation. The group, which has grown from a dozen Conejo Valley women to about 50 since it was formed in 2007, meets regularly to collect items needed by the children of Casa Pacifica. Michele Ray wanted to see the faces of those she helped.

The Thousand Oaks mother of four boys—14yearold triplets and an 8-year-old—had joined a large philanthropic nonprofit organization but felt distanced from the people it helped.

"I just wanted to do something a little bit different . . . more hands-on," said Ray, 42.

She talked to longtime friend Susanne Ahern. The Westlake Village mother of three had toured and donated to Casa Pacifica. She told Ray about the Camarillo-based nonprofit that serves abused, neglected and emotionally disturbed children and their families.

"I just was so touched," said Ahern, 43, of her experience.

Casa Pacifica offers residential treatment, emergency shelter, medical and mental health services and interventions for children and families at its Camarillo campus and through community-based programs in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Ray said she didn't realize so much child abuse and neglect went on in Ventura County or the magnitude and scope of what Casa Pacifica does to help the children and their families.

"How can you not do something when you see what's going on?" she said.

The two women met with Vicki Murphy, Casa Pacifica's director of development and operations, and asked if they could help. Murphy gladly accepted the offer.

Casa Pacifica tries to make its two residential and two emergency shelter cottages as comfortable as possible for the children, but even in good economic times the nonprofit has no money for niceties.

So the three women worked out an arrangement: Ahern and Ray call Murphy regularly to find out what items the children could use and then e-mail a list to their friends, asking them to bring what they can to a luncheon.

That was four years ago, and Girls on a Mission, as the women call themselves, has been brightening the lives of the children at Casa Pacifica ever since.

"I have actually gotten more from the kids than from what I can give to them," Ray said.

"It's such a joy to give," Ahern said.

For example, with a grant in 2007, Casa Pacifica renovated the residential buildings, including new beds for the children. But there was only enough money for plain white "boring" sheets, Murphy said. Girls on a Mission bought colorful, childfriendly linens and comforters for all 40 beds.

Last summer the women bought beach gear—towels, tote bags, swimsuits, sandals—for the dozens of children Casa Pacifica serves. The women have donated gift cards so the children can shop at department stores and go to fast food restaurants and ice cream parlors. Girls on a Mission keeps a supply of custom-made stuffed bears at Casa Pacifica so that every child leaving the facility can take one with them.

"The way they celebrate the children is very loving," Murphy said of the philanthropic group, which formed in 2005. "They're so wonderful; I don't know what we'd do without them."

Girls on a Mission—residents of Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Oak Park, Agoura and Camarillo—has grown from a dozen women to about 50 through word of mouth. It is not a nonprofit group, but it is a band of women who want to bring a smile to the faces of children who have been traumatized.

Some women in the group are wealthy; others have little materially, Ahern said; their common bond is a big heart and a willingness to help children in need.

"It's so neat to see our group has grown a bit," she said.

The women bring the gifts to a luncheon every other month at Ahern or Ray's home and twice a year at Casa Pacifica; that way members, old and new, can tour the Camarillo campus and see the results of their donations.

Girls on a Mission leaves store tags on gifts so the children will feel special. Many of the children Casa Pacifica serves are "hand-me-down kids," accustomed to receiving used clothing, shoes and the like, Murphy said. To receive a new pair of shoes, a beach towel or anything else wrapped and with the tag on it says to the child this is new and it's yours, she said.

Ahern and Ray have also donated time to Casa Pacifica children. They've helped decorate the auditorium for special events, such as the annual prom.

And for the past 2½ years Ray has come to read to the children and help out in the preschool, day care or wherever she's needed.

"It just makes me feel privileged to be able to work with such wonderful kids," Ray said

Ray has used the Girls on a Mission concept to teach her sons to be benevolent. The Ray boys have hosted several pizza parties and asked their friends to bring gifts—swimsuits, pajamas, house slippers—for the children of Casa Pacifica. The boys call themselves Kids on a Mission.

Ray's sons have accompanied her to Casa Pacifica to drop off gifts. It's opened the boys' eyes and touched their hearts that some children have suffered circumstances so severe that they have had to be removed from their parents' care, Ray said.

For more information about Girls on a Mission, call Vicki Murphy at Casa Pacifica, (805) 445-7804.