SaddleBrooke Community Outreach – “It’s All About the Kids!”

Honoring Mary Anderson, long-time loyal Monday morning receptionist, who we lost last year.

Honoring Mary Anderson, long-time loyal Monday morning receptionist, who we lost last year.

We need your help!

Pat Andrea

If you are looking for a local opportunity to volunteer, with flexible hours and a chance to meet new people, this may be the right choice for you.

The SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) office at the SaddleBrooke Minit Mart Plaza (located in Suite L next to the dentist) is open 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. five days per week. Our hours were extended last year so that we could be more visible and accessible to the community and more convenient for residents to join SBCO and sign up for events. By the way, it is now free to join, so please come in and say hello, fill out a membership form and join this incredible organization.

With the increased hours, SBCO is in need of more office help. Our receptionists work three hour shifts of their own choosing. There are presently a number of regular shifts open. Receptionists can choose a regular shift or be on call to fill in as needed.

This job does not require any computer skills or clerical experience. It does require a smiling face, the ability to answer the phone, receive donations and deliveries at the doors, accept membership forms and help people sign up for SBCO community events.

If you are interested in becoming a receptionist for SBCO or have any questions, please contact Pat Andrea, [email protected] or 520-904-4832.

Green helmet and bike

Green helmet and bike

Kids’ Closet receives bikes from Wheels for Kids

Nan Nasser

Recently Tom Terfehr, President of the Sun City Wheels for Kids, presented SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) with 20 refurbished bikes and helmets for use with the Kids’ Closet (KC) Program.

Twelve of the bikes were suited for younger children involved in the KC program and eight are larger sizes for older students. They will be offered to schools in the part of the SBCO service corridor that runs north of Mammoth and across to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation. The schools will be contacted and may request a certain number of bikes which will be dispersed by school administrators. The program is motivational and children may be selected for attendance, grades or whatever is deemed appropriate.

Kids’ Closet is a program that provides new clothing to eligible children in a 100 mile service area that begins in Catalina, extends to Miami and down to the San Carlos Indian Reservation. The bikes are a special addition to the well-being  of our kids.

If you wish more information or would like to donate a bike to Wheels for Kids the website is www.azwfk.org. You may also call the SBCO office at 520-825-3302. Our kids love the bikes! You can provide those smiles!

19th annual SBCO Food Drive

Bob Evans

SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) will have its nineteenth annual Food Drive on Saturday, March 25. Every year SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents step up to support the Tri-Community Food Bank (TCFB) in their efforts to help the Pinal County needy families residing in San Manuel, Oracle and Mammoth. SaddleBrooke’s donations provide emergency food boxes to 355 households monthly (feeding 1,082 people). The TCFB also offers 250 Thanksgiving and 250 Christmas food baskets and operates a Thrift Store offering gently used clothing and household goods. Additionally, TCFB provides community assistance for utilities and rent. All donations go directly to grocery purchases and related expenses. The TCFB pays no salaries; it is an IRS 501(c) (3) and an Arizona non-profit charitable organization.

The need is very real; families, children and seniors are hungry. Based on CityData2013.com, 20% of the Tri-Community households are below the poverty level and 10% are below 50% of the poverty level. How would you prioritize food for your children, a roof over your head and gas to get to your job when there’s not enough to cover them all? Please consider making a generous food or cash donation.

FAQs

Who: SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (celebrating its twentieth anniversary)

What: An SBCO supported food drive to raise funds and food for the Tri-Community Food Bank

When: Saturday, March 25. Please have your bagged food donations on your curb by 8:30 a.m.

How: Volunteer Unit Captains will pick up donated food from residents’ driveways and take them to the MountainView Clubhouse. Once there, SBCO volunteers will sort the donations and transport them to TCFB in Mammoth.

If you would like to make a donation, please make your check out to SBCO and write food drive on the memo line and attach it to your food bag or you can mail it to SBCO, 63675 E. SaddleBrooke Blvd., Suite L, Tucson, AZ 85739.

Why: To assist TCFB in countering the increasingly pervasive hunger in Pinal County’s Tri-Community (Oracle, San Manuel and Mammoth).

One in five children face hunger in the U.S.

One in four children face hunger in Arizona

One in three children face hunger in Pinal County

You will be receiving detailed information on this food drive. If you have questions or want to help, please email Bob Evans at [email protected]. Please consider helping us in the effort.