SOS volunteers get donated gifts and food ready to go to needy families

Waves of volunteers converged on the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa this week to sort, organize and wrap donations received as part of the 48th annual Share Our Selves Adopt A Family program, which provides food and gifts to Orange County families in need during the holidays.

This year, SOS, a Costa Mesa-based nonprofit, connected donors with more than 1,500 families recommended by organizations and schools in Costa Mesa and Santa Ana.

Donors provided toys, clothes and other presents, as well as canned goods, produce and gift cards so families can prepare a holiday dinner.

Share Our Selves also gave donors information about their “adopted” families so they could tailor their contributions to fit specific needs and requests.

Once all the donations are sorted, the organizations and schools that recommended families for the program collect the goods for distribution.

Those pickups started Wednesday and will wrap up Thursday, according to Share Our Selves.

The nonprofit estimates that more than 50,000 families have been helped since the Adopt A Family program started.

For more information, visit shareourselves.org/aaf.