SaddleBrooke Community prepares for Adopt a Family 2014

We borrowed the Catalina Community Services truck to deliver presents to San Carlos for the Apache Indian children. From top left: David Wisniewski, Phil Cummings, Sam Carmen and Ellen Perkins

We borrowed the Catalina Community Services truck to deliver presents to San Carlos for the Apache Indian children. From top left: David Wisniewski, Phil Cummings, Sam Carmen and Ellen Perkins

Ken and Ellen Perkins

At our summer home in Vermont we had our first frost before the first day of fall. The leaves are beginning to turn and there is a serious nip in the air. All that tells us that it is time to return to SaddleBrooke and make plans for the annual Adopt a Family/Child for the holidays. We watch the heartbreaking news stories about children around the world who are suffering great hardship but we can’t forget that there are many children in need right in our area. While for most of us the economy is much improved, there are still many people in need and many of them are children. Once again we would like to spread some joy to these children during the holidays. During the past nine years that we have been organizing this program, the residents of SaddleBrooke have been most generous in helping us to make children’s wishes come true and we hope that will be the case again this year.

We are very grateful to the many generous residents of SaddleBrooke who donate the funds that make this project possible. Each year when all of the gifts have been purchased, wrapped and delivered, we feel a real sense of satisfaction that we have helped to make a brighter Christmas for hundreds of needy children.

We hope that you will consider joining us in making dreams come true for some very deserving children. Many of the shoppers who have participated have expressed to us that the experience was not only rewarding but also a lot of fun. Joining forces with friends and neighbors can lighten the load and brighten the holiday season for everyone involved.

Last year the SBCO Adopt a Family project provided gifts for 110 families in the Tri-Community area (Mammoth, San Manuel and Oracle). It also provided gifts for 250 Apache children on the San Carlos Reservation. If your unit wasn’t involved last year but would like to participate this year, please call for additional information. It’s fun and very rewarding! There is no overhead charge for this project so 100% of gifts and cash donations go to needy families and children.

We would like to invite any and all of you to join us in this worthy cause. Besides donations we also need all the help we can get. The Adopt a Family project has more than doubled in the last six years and we always have a great need for last minute shoppers and wrappers. We think you will find shopping with a friend for the things that the children have requested can be both fun and rewarding. Please join us in this journey which is guaranteed to fill you with the holiday spirit!

We are out of town for the summer, but please let us know if you can help. You can reach us by email: [email protected] or by cell phone, 520-300-1092.