At the Golden Goose Fashion Show in 2024, volunteer Mary Kay Jennings came as a New York City “street vendor.” Each year, using Golden Goose donations, she creates an imaginative costume that generates lots of laughter at the Fashion Show.
Don’t Miss the Fall Meeting and Golden Goose Fashion Show!
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
The SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) fall kick-off general meeting, which features the popular Golden Goose Fashion Show, will be held at 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 20, in the MountainView clubhouse ballroom. This is a great opportunity to learn about the wide variety of SBCO programs to feed, clothe, enrich, and educate local youngsters and see some affordably priced (but very stylish) clothing. This annual fashion show proves that Golden Goose Thrift Shop customers know how to dress well while saving money.
Each year, Melanie Stout and Suzanne Marlatt Stewart organize this much-loved event. They choose a theme, select clothing and coordinating accessories from Golden Goose’s inventory, and then recruit models, many of whom contribute their own fashion savvy and sense of humor to the occasion. While Melanie writes the outfit descriptions, determines the lineup, and helps the models proceed to the “runway” in the correct order, Suzanne serves as the show’s stylish and engaging mistress of ceremonies.
The Golden Goose Thrift Shop splits its proceeds 50/50 between SBCO and IMPACT of Southern Arizona. So, remember, whenever you donate items to the shop, buy treasures from its inventory, or work as a “Goose” volunteer, you are helping to support the work of two great local charities. Since its founding more than 20 years ago, the Golden Goose has contributed more than $20 million to these nonprofits, changing the lives of thousands of local residents.
Prior to the start of last year’s Walk, Jacqueline Brehm from Vital Moves led participants in a round of warm-up exercises.
Register Now for the 27th Annual SBCO Walk for Kids!
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
Don’t miss the 2025 SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) Walk for Kids. The Walk will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8. This signature SBCO event helps support our food, clothing, enrichment, and education programs benefiting youngsters along a 100+-mile corridor from Catalina to the San Carlos Indian Reservation and the Miami school system. SBCO also offers scholarships and enrichment grants to students in Globe. Annually, SBCO touches the lives of approximately 4,000 students through new clothes, backpacks filled with school supplies, college scholarships, contributions to Tri-Community Food Bank, and financial support for a wide range of educational enrichment activities.
Online registration for the 2025 Walk for Kids is available at community-outreach.org. The registration fee of $35 per adult and $10 per child (ages 6 through 18) covers the cost of a T-shirt, snacks, and drinks.
If you choose not to register online, in-person registration is available through Nov. 7 every Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the SBCO office at Suite L in the SaddleBrooke Business Plaza on SaddleBrooke Blvd. Registrations also will be accepted the day of the event. However, please register by Oct. 9 to ensure that you receive a T-shirt in your size.
Create a Walk for Kids team! It’s always more fun to walk with your friends and neighbors. And bring your dog! You can get your “steps” in, catch up with your pals, and support SBCO!
Last year, gifts, gifts, and more gifts were wrapped, bagged, and delivered by SaddleBrooke volunteers to the Mammoth/San Manuel School District office.
Holiday Adopt Program
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
Since 2007, the SaddleBrooke Community Outreach Holiday Adopt Program (formerly the Adopt-a-Family and Adopt-a-Child programs) has provided hand-picked and carefully wrapped Christmas gifts for families in Oracle, San Manuel, and Mammoth and Apache children on the San Carlos reservation. Recently, families in the Hayden-Winkelman School District have been added. Last year the program assisted 130 families (486 individuals) and 250 Apache children. SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents provide the money and volunteer services required to make this program such a great success.
The SBCO Holiday Adopt Program is proud to support families whose children are enrolled in school districts in nearby Copper Corridor communities. There are 10 units within SaddleBrooke that have agreed to support the program this year. We hope to have additional units join in this sharing opportunity. If you, your group, or your unit wishes to adopt a family or families in nearby Copper Corridor communities, please contact Kim Seales at kimseales@gmail.com. Volunteers are also needed to help shop and wrap gifts for delivery. Likewise, contact Maggie DeBlock at zonbeer@aol.com if you prefer to adopt an Apache child or children. In addition, volunteers are needed for loading and unloading the wrapped gifts.
As always, SaddleBrooke residents are encouraged to donate to the program. Since SBCO is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization (tax ID #86-0843458), all contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. Please contribute between Oct. 25 and Nov. 22.
There are three ways to contribute:
1. By credit card online at community-outreach.org by clicking the SBCO Holiday Adopt button on the home page and filling in the information on the donation form (including your unit number). Online donations are accepted Oct. 13 through Nov. 17.
2. Mail or take a check, payable to SBCO (with “SBCO Holiday Adopt” and your unit noted on the check), directly to the SBCO office at 63675 E. SaddleBrooke Blvd., Suite L, Tucson, AZ 85739 (in the SaddleBrooke Business Complex).
3. If you have a representative who is coordinating the SBCO Holiday Adopt Program for your unit, you may give the check to them.
Shredding Event October 25
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
Who needs outdated paper files taking up valuable space in their home? Gather those no-longer-needed materials into boxes or bags and bring them to the Shredding and Recycling Event on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 9 a.m. to noon (or until the truck is full). The event, hosted by Long Realty-Golder Ranch, SaddleBrooke Community Outreach, and the Beacon Foundation, will be held in the SaddleBrooke One parking lot next to the bocce ball courts.
To protect your privacy, all documents are put into containers at the drop-off site. The containers are locked and transported to the Beacon facility for shredding. In addition to documents, only computer hard drives, which may still be inside computers or laptops, will be accepted for recycling.
For each bag or box of items delivered for shredding or recycling, please bring $5 or five cans of food. All donations of cash or food will benefit the Tri-Community Food Bank and the Beacon Group.
For more information, please contact Long Realty at 15250 N. Oracle Road, #110 (in the Bashas’ complex), or 520-665-4200.
Backpacks ordered by SBCO and delivered to the schools contain the supplies requested by the school district for each grade level from kindergarten through sixth grade.
SBCO Gets Kids School Ready with Backpacks and Supplies
Kimberley Prochnau
If you have been around children in the last 30 years, you know that backpacks are an essential item for school—holding books, school supplies, paper, and perhaps a few Gummi Bears.
For the past 13 years, SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) has partnered with local schools to provide backpacks filled with school supplies to children in kindergarten through sixth grade.
At the end of each school year, the schools supply an estimate of the next year’s enrollment, along with a list of required school supplies, such as pencils, scissors, crayons, and paper. SaddleBrooke resident Linda Kehr assembles the lists and submits an order to an online company that takes charge of loading the backpacks with the requested school supplies and then delivering them to the schools in time for Back-to-School Night in early August.
Currently, the program serves six schools in the Copper Corridor (towns from Catalina to Miami), supplying 1,372 backpacks for the 2025-26 school year. Children in this economically deprived area are assured of being equipped with necessary school supplies and a backpack to keep track of them, as well as a myriad of school papers, books, and homework assignments.
Funding for the backpack program, along with other SBCO programs like Kids’ Closet and Teen Closet, is provided by donations from individuals and local businesses and proceeds from sales at the Golden Goose Thrift Shop. All of these sources allow SBCO’s programs to feed, clothe, enrich, and educate local children in schools where 40 to 98 percent of the students come from low-income families.