The Sunnyvale Sun

Letters & Opinions

Christmas Center: It takes a community

By Nancy Tivol

On the Friday before Christmas as we closed Sunnyvale Community Services for the holidays, volunteers who had been working for an entire month on our annual Community Christmas Center were exhausted but enthusiastic as they began exchanging stories about the what turned out to be a very successful program.

Every 15 minutes, four people (a total of 1,124 families) selected a two-week supply of food, new gifts for infants through teens, and a household gift for every family. Imagine the quantities involved for 3,631 people, 1,748 of whom were children. Without the support of the community, this could not have happened, and for that, we want to express our thanks to all of you.

Thanks to the 645 volunteers who donated 4,087 hours moving and sorting tons of food, stocking shelves, created gift packages for teens and household presents, escorting clients, accepting and recording donations, making and stuffing stockings for smaller children. Thanks, too, to the Sunnyvale Rotary Club and Homestead Interact Club for hauling tons of food, setting up the center, and decorating it so festively.

We appreciate those who donated more than $200,000 worth of food and gifts, especially AMD, Sunnyvale School District, Homestead High, Fremont High, Ponderosa School, West Valley School, the Scouting for Food Drive, Church of Latter-day Saints wards in the Los Altos stake, Cape Cod Village, St. Cyprian Church, St. Martin Church, Resurrection Church and the Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church.

Thanks to the Family Giving Tree and Donna's Hallmark for generous gift donations.

St. Martin School collected toys, teen items, household gifts, and food during their Novena, and Brownie Troop 1291, third-graders at Resurrection School, made and sold a cookbook, held a bake sale, then bought gifts at Target for children in need.

We also want to thank the city's parks and finance departments for their decision to collect gifts for the Community Christmas Center.

Thanks to Anna Gonzalez, a bartender at P. F. Chang's, who donated half her tips from a busy Friday night and got other P.F. Chang employees to do the same.

Wolfe Engineering sold raffle tickets for a donated TV. And Ginny Conboy of Applied Signal Technology collected contributions and shopped at a toy store.

Thanks to Cherry Orchard and Homestead Starbucks employees. And thanks to the Chamber for hosting the very successful auction to kick off our holiday season.

Thanks to San Jose Grocery Outlet for scouting for the best bargains.

And to all of you and all who made monetary contributions. Thank you all for providing ourclients dignity, perhaps the most valuable holiday gift.

Nancy Tivol is the executive director of Sunnyvale Community Services.