The ending of Halloween marks the start of the next holiday craze. And while most families welcome the season with big gatherings full of food and toys, others find themselves having a more challenging time making ends meet. Fortunately, there are many efforts in the local community to raise money, food, essential items, clothing, and toys for the holidays.
Jenny Knopf, the Director of Volunteer Engagement, Children’s and Seasonal Services at Samaritan House, oversees much of the fundraising for the toy and food drives. She also supports donations for the Kid’s Closet program located in San Mateo. Through this program, Samaritan House distributes donated new and gently used children’s clothes year-round, including much-needed items like winter coats around the holidays.
“We need more people to donate- not just money, but also goods. Our Kid’s Closet is critically low on items like used clothing and things from people’s closets,” Knopf said. “It’s so simple to clean out your own closet and donate things that don’t fit you anymore and are still in really good condition. This is stuff that can really go and help others.”
Currently, Samaritan House is beginning its first major food drive with Thanksgiving in mind, reaching out for donations of all kinds of holiday foods.
“Some of the biggest things we need right now are frozen turkeys for the holidays,” Knopf said. “We actually have a shortage that we’re experiencing so frozen turkeys will be needed. People can just drop the turkeys off straight from Mollie Stone’s across the street.”
These food drives are on top of Samaritan House’s yearly food services, such as their Mobile Meals program for homebound seniors and disabled individuals.
“These are special food distributions for the holidays, recognizing that there’s so much food insecurity in our community,” Knopf said.
According to health.gov, food insecurity may be long-term or temporary, based on several factors, including income, employment, race/ethnicity, and disability. With the high costs of living in the community, many need help to make ends meet, and many go hungry. Samaritan House works to keep people fed, clothed, healthy, and housed.
“There’s widespread support this time of the year, but with the need increasing year after year, the more support, the better,” Knopf said.
At Carlmont High School, there is a 10-day food drive for Carlmont families from Nov. 6 to Nov. 16. Carlmont Associated Student Body (ASB) Community Service commissioners Vania Pala and Seoha Kim are among the students organizing the event.
According to Kim, the food drive donations in past years have mostly come from ASB students. This year, they want to engage more students in the donation process.
“We really want this year to just be super successful,” Pala said. “The goal for this year is to have more involvement because even though we have a list of 70 families, the goal is always to have as much food as possible.”
Belmont resident Carolyn Hoskins is also collecting toys this holiday season through the Domini Hoskins Black History Museum & Learning Center. The “Winter Wonderland” Toy Drive serves children from all over the Bay Area and provides an opportunity to enjoy a fun holiday experience when dropping off toy donations. The toy drive is from Dec. 2 to Dec. 15, located at 890 Jefferson Ave in Redwood City.
“I always encourage parents to let their kids go and pick out the toy and bring the toy so they can understand that a lot of kids aren’t as fortunate as they are to have so many toys and everything Christmas morning,” Hoskins said. “Hopefully, the whole family will feel like they have really done something very special to help another child have a happy Christmas.”
Hoskins points out that you don’t need to spend a lot to make a big difference for others.
“You know, you can go to Starbucks and spend $6 plus on a cup of coffee. Instead, you can say okay, today I’m not gonna have that coffee, I’m gonna go and purchase a toy or a t-shirt to donate. You just have no idea the impact that you will have on a child by doing that,” Hoskins said.
