The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

BRIEFS

Holiday auctions raise funds for Sunnyvale community services

The Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce will host silent and oral auctions on Dec. 7 to raise money for Sunnyvale Community Services.

More than 100 items--including tickets, dinners, art objects, gemstones and gift baskets--will be offered during the silent auction, which runs from 5 to 6:15 p.m. The oral auction, which begins at 5:45 p.m., includes three one-month tuition certificates at Rainbow Montessori, lunch for two with U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo, a hot-air balloon ride in Napa Valley and an autographed 49ers jersey.

The auctions are being held at the SCS Community Christmas Center in the Washington Park Recreation Building, 840 W. Washington Ave., Sunnyvale. Il Postale and Trader Joe's will provide hors d'oeuvres and beverages.

Last year's auction raised more than $7,000, said Nancy Tivol, director of SCS. The money helps SCS provide food, clothing, financial assistance and other services to a growing list of clients. The nonprofit organization serves more than 400 families year-round and thousands of individuals at its annual Christmas Center, Tivol said.

"Our Christmas Center has gone from serving 1,800 to 5,500 people in five years," Tivol said.

To donate to the Christmas Center, call 735-7434, or stop by the Washington Park building between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. weekdays or 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekends.

Neighborhood toy, food drive beneÞts CityTeam

A group of about 70 volunteers from area churches, service clubs and high-school students plans to visit 3,000 Sunnyvale homes on Dec. 18 to collect canned food and new toys for CityTeam Ministries.

The event, organized by resident Ann Wolf and her family, is targeting single-family homes in 17 areas of the city, reaching from the Los Altos-Sunnyvale border to Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and from Homestead Road to Remington Drive.

The group will distribute grocery sacks with a flier explaining their activities to residents on Dec. 9 and 16, Wolf said. Volunteers will stop by on Dec. 18 to collect the bags.

"If it's not on the front porch, we'll ring the bell," Wolf said.

Last year, collection took about three hours and reaped five tons of food, she said.

For more information or to volunteer, call 732-2647.

United Way seeks Olympic torch bearers

United Way of Santa Clara County is looking for up to 30 people to carry the Olympic flame in the 1996 torch relay scheduled to pass through the county on May 2 and 3.

Potential torch carriers must be nominated by someone in the community to be considered. Nominees also must have a history of community volunteerism to match the theme of the torch relay, celebration of "community heroes," said Cristi Welter, a United Way spokeswoman.

Nominee applications are available at the United Way of Santa Clara County, 1922 The Alameda in San Jose, and at local libraries. The deadline to nominate is Nov. 30, Welter said.

The torch relay is scheduled to begin April 27 in Los Angeles, site of the 1984 summer Olympic games, and arrive in Atlanta, host of the 1996 summer events.

The flame will spend the night in San Jose on May 2 and proceed up the Peninsula on El Camino Real the next morning, Welter said. For more information, call 345-4231.

Winter shelter opens for homeless people

The Emergency Housing Consortium on Monday opened a winter shelter in Sunnyvale for homeless people.

The National Guard Armory Emergency Homeless Shelter, 629 W. Maude Ave., will remain open until March to provide shelter, food and medical and social services to needy individuals. Last year, the Sunnyvale armory served 600 people.