In 2018, SaddleBrooke volunteers loaded the Impact of Southern Arizona truck for delivery of gifts to Apache children in San Carlos.
Ken and Ellen Perkins
For more than a decade, the SaddleBrooke Community Outreach Adopt-a-Family and Adopt-a-Child program has provided hand-picked and carefully wrapped Christmas gifts to local families and Apache children on the San Carlos reservation. In recent years, the program has grown to annually assist about 90 families and 257 Apache children. SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents provide the money and volunteer services required to make this program such a rousing success.
Ken and Ellen Perkins have led Adopt-a-Family since 2007 and are continuing to assist other volunteers to take over the program. As always, residents of SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch are encouraged to donate to the program. If you, your group, or unit wishes to adopt a family or families, contact Linda Russel at [email protected]. To adopt Apache children, contact Maggie DeBlock at [email protected].
In addition, volunteers are needed for shopping and wrapping gifts, as well as loading, delivering, and unloading gifts.
We generally use trucks and vans to deliver the gifts, but occasionally there is a need for an SUV owner to help transport gifts, including loading and unloading.
The program also is looking for a place to store about 250 bags of gifts for the Apache children for about ten days. This could be a home or garage where donations can be deposited and then checked by the program’s audit team to ensure all the presents have been collected before they are delivered to the San Carlos reservation.
If you would like to volunteer your time and/or resources to the Adopt-a-Family and Adopt-a-Child program, contact Ken and Ellen Perkins at [email protected] or 520-300-1092.