Last year, gifts, gifts, and more gifts were wrapped, bagged, and loaded onto a truck by SaddleBrooke volunteers for delivery to the Head Start program in San Manuel and the San Manuel/Mammoth School District office.
Support the SBCO Holiday Adopt Program—Bring Cheer to Local Children and Families
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
Since 2007, the SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) 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 by Nov. 17.
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).
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.
Donate to SBCO and Make a Difference in the Lives of Local Children
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
For more than 27 years, SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) has been providing young people in local communities with opportunities to succeed through programs that provide food, clothing, enrichment grants, and scholarships. We serve youngsters living in the Copper Corridor, former mining towns stretching across more than 100 miles from Catalina to Globe.
Programs implemented by our all-volunteer organization include:
Food: Our annual Food Drive collects funds (and donated food) for the Tri-Community Food Bank, and we deliver holiday food baskets to families in Oracle, San Manuel, Mammoth, Hayden, and Winkelman.
Kids’ Closet: Twice a year, children from pre-k through 8th grade receive new shoes, clothing, and toiletries, plus a backpack filled with grade-appropriate school supplies.
Teen Closet: Twice a year, students from 9th through 12th grade receive a shopping budget for clothing and school supplies. Graduating seniors receive an additional shopping trip to prepare for college or work.
Education Enrichment: Grants are given to schools and community organizations to supplement the school curriculum with instructional experiences in science, math, and the arts, as well as summer school, books, and recreational opportunities.
Scholarships: We grant two- and four-year college scholarships to deserving high school seniors. Students in a two-year program receive $1,800 per year, and those in a four-year program receive $3,600. Since 2001, we have granted 521 scholarships!
Holiday Adopt: Annually, this program collects funds from SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents, which volunteers then use to purchase, wrap, and deliver gifts (or gift cards) to families in Oracle, San Manuel, and Mammoth and the parents/guardians of children attending elementary schools in Oracle, San Manuel, Mammoth, Hayden, Winkelman, San Carlos, and Apache Tribal Social Services.
Your financial contribution to SBCO can make a big difference in many children’s lives. 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. Contributions are also eligible for the Arizona Tax Credit for Contributions to Charities that Provide Assistance to the Working Poor.
Your donation will be acknowledged. If you make a gift on behalf of a friend or family member, in memory of a special person, or in honor of an event or person, an acknowledgement also will be sent to the appropriate person or his/her family.
You can make a secure online donation at community-outreach.org using your credit or debit card, or a donation can be made by delivering or sending a check (made payable to SaddleBrooke Community Outreach or SBCO) to SaddleBrooke Community Outreach, Inc., 63675 E. SaddleBrooke Blvd., Suite L, Tucson, AZ 85739.
On behalf of many local children, we thank you for your support!
At the Color the World summer reading program Kickoff event, volunteer Barb Montgomery and Delvan Hayward, president of the Friends of the Miami Library, helped families register their children in the seven-week program.
SBCO Grant Supports Summer Reading at Miami Memorial Library
Kimberley Prochnau Whedbee
Little Lucy was not yet talking when her mother started bringing her to the Miami Memorial Library’s Color the World summer reading program, but, clearly, she loved the picture books and activities—so much so that her mom reported that her first word was not “mama” or “papa” but “library,” which she frequently employed as a request to get new books.
A SaddleBrooke Community Outreach grant funded this seven-week summer reading and art program at the public library in Miami, Ariz. Children of all ages were invited to engage in learning and reading opportunities, all with a theme related to art.
The program began with the Registration Kickoff at a local park where the children created a group art project, which was displayed at the library for the duration of the summer. Families listened to live performances and books being read and also had the opportunity to create individual pieces of art. The Registration Kickoff even gave children the opportunity to visit other agencies, such as the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension office, so it was a great opportunity to merge art and education.
Each week during the seven-week program, children came to the library to pick out books, gather for story hour, and engage in the science and art education experiences. The art experiences included Drawing, Fiber Arts, Photography, 3-D Art, Writing & Storytelling, Performance Art, and Watercolor. Science demonstrations included “Salt Vibrations” and “Exploding Pumpkins,” both sensational and designed to stimulate an interest in science.
The salt vibrations experiment is created by pouring salt (or sand) onto a taut membrane, such as Saran wrap, pulled tight over a bowl, then playing music and watching the salt move, making the vibration of sound waves visible to all. The exploding pumpkins experiment is a fun and dramatic demonstration of the effects of force by putting rubber bands around a pumpkin until it explodes.
Children were also given the opportunity to pick out books to take home and keep to ensure students stayed connected to reading, even while at home.
At the end of summer celebration, students not only enjoyed cupcakes and prizes but were excited by the awards given out to acknowledge the reading completed.
Susan Pontel, Miami Memorial Library manager, is enthusiastic about the program and reports that this summer was their best summer ever, with more students actively participating in the program. Program logs maintained by the children showed a 24% total increase over the previous summer in time spent reading by the students.
At the end of the program, all of the school-age children indicated that they read more often and enjoyed reading more. The majority of their caregivers not only concurred but stated that their children were more confident readers and either maintained or increased their reading skills over the summer.