Local groups get set for the season of giving
As the holidays approach and families make celebration plans, a number of organizations in and around La Cañada are busy preparing, through local giving campaigns and donation collections, to make the season bright for families in need. Here are just a few local giving campaigns and programs currently accepting donations this holiday season:
La Cañada Presbyterian’s Operation Christmas Child
From now until Sunday at 9 a.m., La Cañada Presbyterian Church’s Parent Ed program encourages local residents to fill shoeboxes with school supplies, baby dolls, crayons and toiletries for delivery to children in need across the globe as part of Operation Christmas Child.
The program has delivered more than 100 million such shoeboxes to children in 150 countries since 1990. Anne Bierling, director of LCPC’s Parent Ed Program, said the group has participated in this tradition for decades.
“They airlift, they sled, boat, horseback-ride these Christmas boxes into all these remote areas — it’s their passion to reach these kids,” Bierling said, recounting tales of families whose gifts magically answered prayers or inspired recipients to post donors’ photos in their homes. “It’s like a miracle.”
Donors can go online to samaritanspurse.org/operation-christmas-child and purchase a $7 packing label and number that tracks the box’s journey. Unsealed boxes can be dropped off at a collection table located at the south side of the main sanctuary, 626 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada.
For more information or drop off, call Fiama Traxler at (818) 790-6708, Ext. 205.
Allen Lund Co. Toy Drive benefiting the Society of St. Vincent de Paul
From now until Dec. 7, La Cañada’s Allen Lund Co. will be accepting new, unwrapped toys for children ages 3 to 14 as part of a joint effort with the nonprofit Society of St. Vincent de Paul.
For years, the local company helped collect shoes for families in need. But when organizers heard children were forced to choose between getting shoes and getting a toy, often picking the former out of sheer necessity, the company focused its efforts on toys.
On Dec. 17, more than 700 area families will receive the donated toys, in addition to shoes and a bagged Christmas meal in a distribution event at the St. Vincent de Paul building in Los Angeles. Every year, the organization distributes more than $2 million in food donations and offers transitional housing for the area’s homeless.
Kenny Lund, vice president of operations, said the toy drive is part of a company-wide effort of giving back throughout the year.
“It’s right in our own backyard,” Lund said of the need. “It’s so easy to help out, and it’s so appreciated.”
Donations can be dropped off Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Allen Lund Co., 4529 Angeles Crest Highway, La Cañada. For more information, call (818) 949-4505.
Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station Food and Toy Drive
Every year, employees and volunteers of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department’s Crescenta Valley Station work tirelessly to make the holidays bright for more than 150 families living in the community who might not otherwise be able to celebrate on their own.
At a “Breakfast with Santa” event in December, families enjoy a meal and have their pictures taken with Santa Claus before receiving age-appropriate toys and bags of food fit for a holiday meal. In preparation for that, volunteers have been collecting dry good food items and toys for months.
Two local donation opportunities take place at Memorial Park — the Community Center of La Cañada Flintridge’s annual Thanksgiving Run and Food Drive, which asks participants to donate food items the day of the races, and the Festival in Lights, which accepts food donations as well as new, unwrapped toy donations for the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station. This year’s festival takes place Dec. 2.
L.A. County Fire Department’s Spark of Love
This year marks the 24th year that the Los Angeles County Fire Department and ABC7 have teamed up for the Spark of Love campaign, an effort to collect new, unwrapped toys and sports equipment for under-served children and teens in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, Ventura and Riverside counties.
The goal of this year’s campaign, which runs through Christmas Eve, is to help collect more than 450,000 toys. Donations can be made at La Cañada’s two fire stations—Station No. 82 located at 352 Foothill Blvd. and Station No. 19 at 1729 Foothill Blvd. For more, visit fire.lacounty.gov/home/spark-love-toy-drive.
Pasadena Humane Society’s #GivingPawsday
For animal lovers looking to help their four-legged friends this holiday season, the Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA is holding a special one-day donation event on Nov. 29 called #GivingPawsday.
This online and in-person campaign helps provide food, shelter and medical care to the nearly 12,000 animals taken into the shelter each year. Donations can be made online at pasadenahumane.org/givingpawsday or by texting PAWS to 27722.
In-kind donations will also be accepted at the shelter, 361 S. Raymond Ave., in Pasadena. A wish list can be found online at pasadenahumane.org/wishlist. Supporters can spread the word about the movement on social media using the hashtag #GivingPawsday.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
