Toy, food drives a success
Sometimes all you have to do is ask.
During the holiday season a multitude of nonprofits, churches
and government agencies all planned ways to help families in need.
They asked for food, money or gift donations, as well as volunteer
time. According to several of the groups, their call for help was a
success.
Toy, food drives a success
Sometimes all you have to do is ask.
During the holiday season a multitude of nonprofits, churches and government agencies all planned ways to help families in need. They asked for food, money or gift donations, as well as volunteer time. According to several of the groups, their call for help was a success.
Sandie Weis, of Ridgemark Golf and Country Club, teamed up with members of the band Soul Kiss for a holiday toy drive to benefit Chamberlain’s Children Center. They held a raffle night at the country club with Soul Kiss performing, where the price of admission was a toy. They had more than two dozen raffle prizes donated from such local businesses as Premiere Cinemas, Neighborhood Pizza and both Bourdet’s and Barone’s Christmas tree farms (see complete list of donors online).
The effort netted more than 150 toys and $800 in cash.
“For something we kind of put together very last minute, it just seemed to be very successful,” Weis said.
The money went to Mari Davis, a board member for Chamberlain’s.
“We thought they would be better suited since they knew the children,” Weis said. “We’d like to thank the community and our members here at Ridgemark for all of their support and generosity. We just hope the kids have a very merry Christmas.”
Many other organizations got into the spirit. Community and Workforce Development staff asked for help in collecting toys for the families housed in their winter shelter program. They collected gifts for 50-some children from ages 4 months to 17. At San Benito High School, students collected toys for the annual Toys for Tots event sponsored by the Hollister Fire Department. The classes competed to see which could collect the most toys and food for Community Pantry. Some students even signed up to donate blood at a biannual blood drive.
KSBW staff also hosted its annual “Share Your Holiday” event, in which staff and volunteers collected food and toys outside Central Coast Nob Hill stores on Dec. 13, including the Hollister store. The fundraiser collected a total of $110,027 for the Salvation Army. They also collected nearly 30,000 pounds of food and nearly 13,000 new toys between the six broadcast sites.
“This is a testament to the unbreakable will of our Central Coast spirit,” said Joseph W. Heston, the president and general manager of KSBW, in a press release. “There is an urgency to act now, and we are grateful to the kindness that is shown each year.”
Esther Curtice, of the Court Appointed Special Advocates of San Benito County, also organized a toy drive for San Benito County children in foster care.
“This year we planned the event a little better and put some thought into it,” she said.
She first started notifying community members with fliers and newspaper listings about the toy drive in October. She had a variety of ways people could help, from adopting a specific child or sibling group, donating money, or bringing in an unwrapped toy. With the money collected, Curtice was able to purchase toys for the children who were not adopted through the program.
“It’s additional cost [to the foster famly] and it’s nice if other entities can help them out with the burden of Christmas,” Curtice said. “Also kids are not with their own family so we want to shower them with extra stuff.”
Their toy drive was so successful that even after the toys had been delivered by social workers to the children, Curtice still received calls from those wanting to donate. She referred them to other organizations in the area.
“I was very surprised, knowing that this year our economy has not been the best,” she said. “The community obviously cares, not just about our kids, but other kids in similar situations. It’s just such a good feeling to know the community is there to help you out.”
Chamberlains Children Center donors:
Barone’s Christmas Tree
Teknova
Robin at the Hair Shoppe
Pinnacle West Exterminators
Neighborhood Pizza
Speedee Oil and Lube
US Paintball Nation
Adventure Center Skydiving
Red Beard Communications
Round Table Pizza
Red Eagle Chiropractic
Leal Winery
Baskin Robbins
Papa Murphy’s Pizza
Premiere Cinemas
Fortino’s Total Home
Dunneville
Bourdet’s Christmas trees
Blockbuster Video
Pietra Santa Winery
Safeway
UPS Store
Soul Kiss
Kellogs
