Dear Friends and Family,

There are no words we can write that would accurately describe the gratitude we have for all of you. We set a record, helping 142 families this year.

We collected over $5,000 in cash and grocery gift cards and delivered 130 boxes with turkeys, other groceries, personal care, and cleaning products. We provided grocery gift cards to additional families, and provided coffee and doughnuts to the families waiting to be checked in on delivery day.

Every year the staff at Almaden Elementary provides us with a list of families…every year we have families ask for help that didn’t get on the list but are still in need of help. We have never had to turn anyone away. We are happy to report we had 12 families walk up and they received grocery gift cards.

We were able to provide $900 total in Target gift cards to the school to help our families with the Holidays. The families that received help will have their names in a raffle for 16 of these cards, and 2 will be given to 2 particular families in grave need.

We had support from our local businesses as follows:

  • Peets Coffee and Tea at Blossom Hill and Almaden Expressway donated hot coffee for our volunteers and customers to enjoy in the cold morning
  • Little Cesar’s Pizza on Monterey Highway donated the pizza we enjoyed during the Packing Day
  • Safeway donated a $25 gift card
  • Smart and Final on Hillsdale at Camden Ave donated $200 worth of turkeys and gave us 10% discount on the remaining $1600+ of their cost.
  • Trader Joe’s at Almaden Plaza donated $200 of fresh produce and gave us a 10% discount on the remaining $800 of the cost. Plus $100 of produce was donated by one of their employees.

These generous vendors deserve your business throughout the year.

Special thanks go to :

  • Explorer Preschool (without your support and enthusiasm this wouldn’t happen),
  • Little Tree Playschool and New Creation Lutheran Church (who gave us a place to store our groceries for a month, collected and made donations and hosted Packing Day),
  • Santa Clara Valley Girl Scouts (4 Daisy Troops collected, decorated boxes, and made centerpieces for our families’ tables),
  • Pioneer High School (who sent 10 translators and gave us the groceries they collected for their “The Rice is Nice Campaign”),
  • Santa Teresa High School’s Interact Club (who collected non-perishable groceries and grocery gift cards),
  • Trader Joe’s ( who sent employees to help with delivery ),
  • the LGBTQ Youth Center (who collected non-perishable groceries and helped with packing boxes)

We had a record number of volunteers this year and again thank you does not say enough. We ask and you answer. Many blessings to you and your families for this Holiday season.

Mother Teresa said “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” You have created many ripples.

Thank you,
Alan, Sheila, and Delia