Tiny babies without snuggly blankets and seniors with empty
cupboards touch the heart, and they are the ones that benefit the
most from Community Solutions’ annual Holiday Giving Program.
Editor’s Note: This is the first installment in a series of stories highlighting the Morgan Hill Times second “Lifting Spirits” project. We hope the articles will connect our readers with our needy friends and neighbors during the holiday season.
MORGAN HILL
Tiny babies without snuggly blankets and seniors with empty cupboards touch the heart, and they are the ones that benefit the most from Community Solutions’ annual Holiday Giving Program.
But though it is society’s most frail who have, perhaps, the greatest need, there are plenty of toddlers, schoolchildren, teens and adults, too, who feel the pinch of poverty. Even if families manage life day to day, it can be difficult to find the resources to make the holidays a special time.
Fortunately, for many families in the community, the way to have a more meaningful holiday season is to be a part of the giving program, a staple in the South County community for more than 25 years.
Last year, volunteers provided 182 families with gifts of food, clothing and other items during the holiday season. For many of the children in these families, the gifts they received through the program were their only holiday gifts.
Community Solutions staff selects who will be served by the program, and they are typically clients of the organization who are facing extreme life hardships, living in poverty and finding it difficult to meet the most basic needs.
Nearly 200 families will benefit this year from the support of the community, but without that support, most of these families will have a very lean holiday season.
Community Solutions volunteers will be collecting many items, including clothing, household items, school supplies, games, gift cards, bus passes, phone cards, restaurant coupons, movie tickets and more.
Many will consider adopting a family, a meaningful experience for children, particularly, if the family has the same number of children, for example, or children of the same age as in their own family. The adopting family agrees to purchase a gift for each member of the adopted family, using lists provided by Community Solutions which detail the needs and wishes of the family. A gift of non-perishable food is provided, along with a gift card to a local grocery store, typically a $25 minimum, and the food and gifts are delivered to the warehouse on Dec. 7 and 8 for distribution.
Packing up and distributing the donated items requires more hands than just the basic core of volunteers who work nearly year round to make the annual event happen. Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and other groups, including Victory Outreach, and individuals who just drop in come to the aid of core volunteers. Community Solutions is also grateful to Toeniskoetters & Breeding, Inc. for loaning warehouse space for volunteers to assemble the boxes.
Many of the volunteers, both of the core group and of the packing and distribution group, have been working with the program for years. Some just drop in when they read about the program or learn about it from a friend. Helpers are always welcome, says volunteer Ginny Christopher.
“During the holiday season, it just feels right to be a part of a program like this,” Christopher said. “It’s truly the giving season, and I think it enriches all of our lives to be involved.”
HOLIDAY GIVING PROGRAM
To get involved in the program or to find out what items are needed, call (408) 776-6280.
