Saratoga News
News
Photograph by George Sakkestad
Saratoga Foothill Club members (from left) Cindy Ruby, Anne Lisick, Tracey Enfantino and Sue Johnson load bags and boxes of donated food in the back of a van. The Foothill Club is collecting food for its 54th annual Holiday Food Basket Project.
Foothill Club collects food for those in need
By Shannon Burkey
As the holiday season approaches, the members of the Saratoga Foothill Club are gearing up for their 54th annual Holiday Food Basket Project to aid families in need.
"It's so nice to be able to give back to the community," said Ginny King, co-chairwoman of the Food Basket Project committee. "You wouldn't know it but there are some families in Saratoga that need help. All our baskets go to Saratoga people."
When the project began in 1952, Saratoga was a community rife with vineyards and orchards and many families in the area were those of the fruit pickers. And as more of these families came to Saratoga, the Foothill Club began to see many families in need, so the Holiday Food Basket Project was born.
But, as Saratoga has evolved, many of the orchards and vineyards have disappeared, taking with them the families the Holiday Food Basket Project served. That didn't deter the Foothill Club, though.
"The project has changed as the community has changed," said Peggy Corr, who has been a member of the club since 1975. "As the farm workers disappeared, we would ask churches if they knew of any families that could use baskets."
Today, the food baskets the club makes benefit families who live in low-income housing in the Saratoga Courts apartments and seniors from the Saratoga Senior Center and Fellowship Plaza, which is low-income housing for seniors.
In past years the food and donations for the baskets have come mainly from the Foothill Club members and from elementary school children who take part in a food drive at their schools. Local merchants have also participated by offering discounted items to the club to include in the baskets. This year the Saratoga Monte Sereno Community Foundation donated $500, and Foothill Club members said they hope more people in the community will also get involved.
"One hundred percent of what everybody donates goes to the people in need," co-chairwoman Carol Lutz said.
Each basket contains fresh fruit and vegetables, stuffing, either a whole turkey or chicken depending on the size of the family, a pie and all the trimmings to make a holiday meal complete.
"Our goal is to have a full meal by the time we get done," King said. "Last year we were also able to include gift certificates to Target for families with children."
Last holiday season the club collected enough food and money to assemble 162 baskets that benefited 233 Saratoga people in need and members expect to do the same number of baskets, if not more, again this year.
"I think it's very nice when a club in the community can take on a project out of the generosity of their hearts and make someone's holiday brighter," King said. "Each year we get lots of thank you notes from the people who get the baskets and last year a mother of one of the families who received a basket said that now she would be able to buy her kids presents."
Because the project is so rewarding, King said each year many club members want to be on the Holiday Food Basket Project committee.
"It is important to give back to the community," Lutz said. "The nice thing is you get so much more in return. It gives you such a good feeling."
For information on making a donation to the Foothill Club's Holiday Food Basket Project, or to suggest a family that might benefit from a basket, call 408.867.7179. Donations can be mailed to the Saratoga Foothill Club, P.O. Box 2233, Saratoga, CA 95070.
