List of Charitable Groups Taking Holiday Donations

Following is a list of some of the charitable organizations in San Diego County that will be accepting donations of various types through the holiday season:

The AIDS Foundation has released a wish list for the holidays that includes both food items and personal hygiene items. Suggested food donations include: Canned tuna, fruits, vegetables, soups, chili, pastas, jams and jellies. Among the personal hygiene items requested are: toothbrushes, toothpaste, hand and body lotions, disposable razors, shaving cream and mouth wash. The AIDS Foundation is at 4080 Centre St. For more information call 686-5000.

Meals on Wheels has come up with a unique way to send holiday cheer and at the same time enable a hot, delivered meal to reach the table of a homebound senior citizen. Meals On the Move (MOM) holiday cards may be purchased in groups of 7 for $35. The cards depict real fruit and flowers photographed against drawn still-life backgrounds. All of the revenues from sales will be used to make the Meals on Wheels meals. The cards may be ordered by sending a check to Meals On the Move, SDAAA, 9335 Hazard Way, Suite 100P, San Diego 92123. For more information call 495-5708.

San Diegans have the opportunity to share the tradition of gift giving, as well as the style in which the holidays are celebrated here, with newly arrived Soviet refugee children, courtesy of Jewish Family Service and the United Jewish Federation’s Task Force on Resettlement. New toy donations will be distributed to the children at Hanukkah. Donations should be appropriate for children ages 6 months to 14 years, and will not be accepted after Dec. 14. For information call 544-8310.

A quick and easy way to ensure contented smiles and sated palates for the holidays is to drop off some non-perishable foods at your local San Diego Food Bank Holiday Food Drive drop site. Among the organizations teaming up with the food bank in the drive are Chicks Natural restaurant chain, and UDC Homes. There are seven Chicks Natural restaurant locations around the county (Hillcrest, Clairemont, Sorrento Mesa, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Vista, and Oceanside) where food may be donated. UDC Homes’ three sales offices in Oceanside--The Missions, Eclipse and Villa Trieste--will serve as the drop-off points for that organization. Both drives will continue through Dec. 22.

The ringing in of the New Year on Dec. 31 will benefit a host of charities here in San Diego as they will be receiving the proceeds from the eighth annual New Year’s Eve Masked Ball. The event, the largest fund-raiser of its kind on the West Coast, will be held on Dec. 31 from 8:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. at the San Diego Convention Center, 111 W. Harbor Drive. A variety of live bands will provide music for dancing, augmenting an evening filled with international foods, fortune tellers, games and a “spectacular midnight display.” Tickets are $50 in advance and $60 at the door. Among the charities benefiting from the evening are the American Lung Assn., Boys and Girls Clubs of San Diego, Children’s Homecare Hospice, and Planned Parenthood. For more information call 542-0124.

The annual San Diego Hospice “Light Up a Life” tree-lighting ceremony will be held at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 17. Those who wish to honor the memory of a friend or loved one may purchase a light on the tree for $25. A dove tree ornament may be purchased for $100. A gift of $1,000 entitles the donor to have one of the trees at the San Diego Hospice Center named after a loved one as a memorial. For more information call 688-1600, ext. 440.

World Emergency Relief has garnered the assistance of the San Diego and Oceanside Armed Services YMCA Family Outreach Programs in launching “Operation Mistletoe.” The effort will send “care packages” to San Diego County based-troops that have been sent to Somalia during the Holiday season. World Emergency Relief will accept cash donations, with which it will purchase packaged cookies, candies, writing paper and envelopes. The items will be prepackaged and shipped to commanding officers for disbursement to the troops. Donations may be sent to World Emergency Relief, 3150 Pio Pico Drive, Suite 203, Carlsbad, CA 92008. For more information, call 434-4900.