Sophomore sisters Delara and Layla Tehranchi were given the opportunity this October to welcome a newborn baby named Coco into their family. Coco’s birth mother had been struggling with various drug addictions and therefore had increased the baby’s health risks. The Tehranchi’s mother, Thais Aliabadi, a doctor at Cedars-Sinai, immediately jumped in and decided to deliver the baby for free because of how much she believed in protecting Coco’s life.  

“[Coco has] completely changed our family’s perception on life, and she’s changed our entire world. She’s the biggest blessing we’ve ever had,” Delara Tehranchi said. “We were so inspired by her and felt we had to help all the other Cocos in LA because there’s just so many sad stories involving fostering.”

Layla and Delara Tehranchi knew Coco was more than a blessing; they took her presence and used it as motivation. This story started the non-profit organization Coco’s Angels. This past holiday season, Coco’s Angels raised over $50,000 to provide every single foster kid in LA County gifts for the holidays. 

“[The foster care workers] told us that every year for Christmas there is a drive to donate all the foster kids’ Christmas gifts and this year since COVID hit they haven’t had any donors. This is when we initially decided that we were going to start our own drive,” Layla Tehranchi said. “Normally, they can’t get every single kid exactly what they want because they don’t have the funding, and it’s fairly risky every year depending on how many donations they receive. They always get a general gift, but this year they sent us their top three wishes, and some of the kids got everything they asked for: the color, the size, everything they wanted.”

The Tehranchi sisters were able to give every single foster kid in Los Angeles County at least one gift they asked for. 

“We ended up driving a bus and personally handing out each and every gift. We decorated the bus with Coco’s Angels signs, lights, Christmas decorations, and even brought Santa to them,” Delara Tehranchi said. 

These girls are not stopping here; they want to make even a greater impact.  

“Moving forward, we are thinking about doing socially distanced drives where we can get all of the foster kids haircuts and hygiene classes because a lot of these kids don’t understand how to care for themselves,” Layla Tehranchi said. “They were just never taught how to. No one ever showed them how to clean themselves, how to take care of their body, how to feed your body. A lot of these kids have never had the stability for someone to teach them.”

Both Delara and Layla Tehranchi are eager to encourage others to get involved in issues they are passionate about and wanted to offer words of advice. 

“We encourage everyone that wants to get involved in something to not be afraid. Don’t think of this as a huge mountain you have to climb because there’s a huge spectrum to community service work. You can even do something as simple as donating to charity,” Delara Tehranchi said. “People are just so grateful for your help… and there’s a whole spectrum of ways that you can help something you’re passionate about that’s not always just money. It is [also important to] donate your time to help [with specific] issues.”

This story was originally published on The Oracle on February 13, 2021.