Christmas is over and organizations are beginning to count the
amount of generosity produced throughout the community in the form
of money, toys and food donations.
Christmas is over and organizations are beginning to count the amount of generosity produced throughout the community in the form of money, toys and food donations.
While officials at Second Harvest Food Bank are still collecting barrels, they are close to their goal of 1 million pounds of food, said Jeffrey Kongslie, director of development and marketing. In mid-December, the agency had around 200,000 pounds, but Kongslie said most people turn in donations the last few days.
“It looks like we’re getting close to our goal,” he said. “We’ve received some good donations from companies. Employee groups raise money and their companies match that.”
And, while some of the food barrels will be picked up after Christmas, the donations will help needy families throughout the winter months, hopefully through March, Kongslie said.
Locally, Community Pantry is the largest recipient of food from Second Harvest, with more than 120 organizations benefiting from the agency.
The Toys for Tots campaign collected enough toys for 1,147 children, said David Young, firefighter with the Hollister Fire Department and co-organizer of the event with engineer Tom Flynn. Since some children get more than one toy, more than 1,147 toys were collected.
Firefighters with the HFD and California Department of Forestry and Fire collected toys in front of Target and Kmart for four weekends. Young said donations were a little higher this year, which he attributed to a higher level of generosity and a big donation from Milgard Windows.
“Our goal was 1,400, but (donations) aren’t usually that high,” Young said.
Popular donations include Barbie dolls, trucks, stuffed animals and board games, Young said.
