RENO, Nev. (Dec. 14, 2011) – The Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows is helping create holiday cheer for more than 160 families this Christmas, thanks to generous community members who are able to donate gifts for more than 700 individuals through the Club’s annual Holiday Help program. Last year the Club and its network of donors adopted 121 families – 478 individuals – as part of its Holiday Help program and fortunately, even in these challenging economic times, the Club has found a record number of families and companies to sign up to adopt a family in need, providing presents to make Christmas a little brighter.
This year, the Club was also given an extra boost thanks to the generosity of several local businesses; Western Nevada Supply took 113 kids on a toy shopping spree at Wal-Mart;Hot August Nights treated 25 kids to a shopping spree; the Shop With A Sheriff program took several Club members from a local homeless shelter on a shopping spree; andFerguson Tree Farm donated 200 Christmas Trees.
“The response this year has been amazing,” said Josh Deason, Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows Family PLUS coordinator. “With so many people who need help, it is heartening to see families and businesspeople in our community so eager to step up.”
To participate in Holiday Help, families are selected by the Club through an application process. The families that qualify fill out a form with children’s wish lists and clothing sizes, and those forms are sent to Holiday Help volunteers. Wrapped presents are dropped off at the Club by registered donors before families come to pick them up from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., now through Dec. 20.
In addition, at 10 a.m. Monday, Dec. 19, Super Pawn delivers 75 presents to assist the program in fulfilling its holiday shopping needs along with a large donation from U.S. Foodsand Waste Management at the same time, supplementing the adoption of 14 families by the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office, a donation of 75 haircuts from Outsiders Hair Studio in Reno and donations from the Somersett Community.
For more information on the Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows including volunteer, donation and career opportunities please call 775-331-KIDS (775-331-5437) or visitwww.BGCTM.org.
The Boys & Girls Club of Truckee Meadows is the leading non-profit youth services agency in northern Nevada. Its mission is to enhance the quality of life for children, ages 0 to 18, in the Truckee Meadows through afterschool, summer and track break programming and services. The Club is committed to creating healthy children, in body and mind, with a sense of competence, usefulness, responsibility, belonging and influence, through diverse programs and community involvement. Founded in 1976, the Club now serves nearly 9,000 children at 13 sites throughout the Truckee Meadows. At all of its sites, the Boys & Girls Club strives to provide kids with positive and productive outlets for their energy with programs such as afterschool tutoring, character and leadership development, healthy lifestyles, athletics and art. And while the Club invests nearly $500 annually into each of its members, memberships cost just $20 per year, providing equal opportunity to all children in the community.
