WORKERS USE BONUSES TO HELP OTHERS

CHICO -- Tim Provencio, Lorri Davis, Angi Orlandella, Steve Mardigian,
Cindy Hodges and Cheyanna Hurley all share dark secrets.

Whether it was overcoming personal drug abuse, or having relatives with
drug problems, all know the boost they got when others stepped in to help.

The six work together for a Butte County environmental mitigation firm, and
all of them at some time in their lives got a gift, or some sort of assist
to get them through the depression of what was supposed to be the most
wonderful time of the year.

Fast forward to holiday season 2004, and this time the six of them, plus
another employee of Loafer Creek Land Management who didn't want to be
identified, are finding themselves in a position to return the favors of
Christmases past.

Flush with $1,500 employee bonuses, the six employees - Mardigian is
management - decided to pool the money and donate it to the Butte County
drug court. In turn, the court, through Judge Darrell Stevens, is
dispersing the funds to the Salvation Army and a Chico-area women's shelter
for recovering drug addicts.

Loafer Creek kicked in a $9,000 match, making for an $18,000 donation that
will be spent on toys, pizzas, supermarket gift certificates, appointment
books for drug court clients and other assorted gifts and materials for
hundreds of Butte County's down and out.

"It means a great deal," Stevens said, "because it shows that people in the
community do care about people who are trying to better themselves. These
are people who have lived lives of addiction that have led them to
financial ruin, who have been excluded from the community. For them to now
be able to have a Christmas dinner, and small things like a pizza night out
with their children, it makes them feel included. Self-esteem is a very
important thing in the recovery process, and especially at Christmas time."

The givers of Loafer Creek - all of whom have been on the receiving end of
the holiday charity equation - know exactly how much the outreach can mean.

"When I was a kid, sometimes the only gifts we got were from organizations
like the Salvation Army," Provencio said. "One year, it seemed really
bleak, and we got a knock on a door from a charitable organization. They
brought us a food basket and some gifts. Without that, it would have been a
pretty bleak year."

The Loafer Creek employees got the idea from the owner of their company,
controversial Butte County businessman Dan Kohrdt. A multimillionaire who
got rich in the demolition industry, Kohrdt constructed a sheriff's
substation outside Oroville in October 1999 and was prepared to donate it
to Butte County. But when building officials held him up on a grading
permit on a shopping center he was developing, Kohrdt demolished the
nearly-finished substation and had it packed into cardboard boxes that he
later delivered to the Butte County Board of Supervisors.

Since the 1999 stir, Kohrdt formed the Loafer Creek environmental
mitigation company. A good year allowed him to award each of his six
employees the $1,500 bonuses. But he gave it to them with a little caveat,
urging them to kick back a little of it back to charities in town, with the
promise that he would match their contributions dollar for dollar.

His reason: "We live in one of the most distressed counties there is,"
Kohrdt said, referring to U.S. Census Bureau figures that show Butte County
ranking 14th poorest out of the 58 counties in California.

Davis, 41, works educational outreach for Kohrdt's company. Four years ago,
a methamphetamine relapse landed her in jail the day after Christmas. But
her recovery eventually gained a stronger hold in her life, and she was
able to graduate from Stevens' drug court.

Davis said she hasn't forgotten it or him, nor has she forgotten the
addicts who are fighting the battles she once endured.

It was her idea to contact Stevens and do something for somebody through
the drug court.

It was everybody else's idea to give not just a portion of their Christmas
bonuses to the court, but all of it.

"I know there are a lot of people out there who are affected by drug abuse
who are going without this year," said Hodges, 33, the company's human
resources manager, and Kohrdt's daughter.

"I'm OK this year, so I thought I'd rather see mine go to somebody who
doesn't have anything. I probably could have used it to go shopping for my
kids, but my kids have a family and will have a Christmas dinner. This
would be a gift for families who don't have a family or whose mom and dad
are in rehab or jail."

The six Loafer Creek employees, plus Mardigian, stopped into Stevens'
courtroom last week to drop off the $18,000. Stevens stopped testimony in a
trial he was presiding over to recognize the group. The judge stepped down
from the bench for a round of handshakes and hugs. Tears flowed freely from
the eyes of Davis and some of the other contributors.

"This is why I have the best job in the courthouse," Stevens said.

Capt. Ron Yant accepted a check on behalf of the Salvation Army.

"It's fabulous," Yant said. "The Salvation Army will be able to bring joy
and happiness to needy families in the community because of this. It's
something we didn't ask for and didn't expect."

The money came at the right time for the Salvation Army, which has seen a
sharp decrease in its kettle collections this year because of Target
Corp.'s decision to keep bell-ringers off its premises this year. Yant said
the Loafer Creek money in part will pay for $25 gift certificates for 13-to
15-year-olds in town.

Another chunk of the funds will pay for study Bibles at the faith-based
Integrity House, a shelter for recovering drug-addicted and alcoholic women.

"This is a wonderful contribution," said Integrity House proprietor Laurie
David.

And nobody felt better about it than the contributors.

"A lot of times we didn't get any gifts or have any Christmas dinners
because my parents were preoccupied with drugs or didn't have the money to
provide those things for us," Hurley said. "I want these kids in these
families to have a good Christmas this year."