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Photograph by Jacquelyn Ramseyer
Seb Sacco, in charge of food donations, has been a volunteer with Sunnyvale Community Services for 15 years.
Well-Stocked
SCS Christmas Center allows families in need to 'shop' till they drop
By Jana Seshadri
The Community Christmas Center, beautifully decorated and well-stocked with merchandise and volunteers, opened its doors Dec. 4. The Sunnyvale Community Services sets up the center every year for eligible families to come in and "shop" for food, gifts and household items during the holiday season, completely free of charge.
"We will serve over a thousand families during the two weeks," said Nancy Tivol, executive director.
The friendly and warm atmosphere in the center is designed to make it conducive to families to shop with dignity--to choose the food their families like and the gifts their children want.
Families involved in the food program are notified about the Christmas Center by mail. Registration started Nov. 1, and families were given a certain date and time for their shopping to avoid overcrowding the center. The center accommodates two to three families every 15 minutes, servicing approximately 70 families a day. A volunteer walks around the center with each family and helps with the shopping.
"I really, really like it," said Trang Tran, who had difficulty speaking English and was helped by a volunteer.
Approximately 150 volunteers, including youngsters from middle schools and high schools, helped move merchandise and equipment into the Washington Park building Nov. 24, and more volunteers helped set up and stock the shelves. On Dec. 3, public safety officers were present to unload the food-bearing trucks, unpack the tons of food and stack the canned goods on the shelves.
Staggered deliveries of food and gifts ensure availability of merchandise at all times, Tivol said. The Boy Scouts of America delivered 1,500 pounds of food to the center last weekend. Advanced Micro Devices, one of SCS' large corporate sponsors, had its huge toy drive and delivered the toys a week after the center opened. This enables the shelves to always be stocked with merchandise, so families have their chance to shop until the very last day. It also makes the job more manageable for volunteers.
Seb Sacco has volunteered in the food department for 13 years and has watched the program grow from a few hundred families to a thousand.
"We have at least 30 to 40 more families this year than we did last year," Sacco said.
Al Rosingana has worked as a volunteer for the last 15 years. He currently works stacking the food neatly on the shelves.
The selection of canned and packaged foods on the shelves reflects the needs of the center's diverse clientele. Items include the basic necessities like rice, flour, pasta, bread, sugar, canned vegetables, beans and butter, as well as cake mixes, frosting, cookies and candies. The size of the family determines how many packets or cans of each item can be taken home.
Gifts are separated according to the age and sex of the child, ranging from infants to teens. Volunteers have also put gifts together by combining items according to age group. For instance, a teen-age girl's gift could include a cosmetic bag, a cologne/body wash set and a warm color-coordinated Turkish towel all wrapped together. Similarly, a boy's gift could consist of a tool kit, a men's cologne set and a key chain wrapped together. Household items, such as candles and candleholders, utensil sets, and rice-cookers, are also available for the families.
Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Ron Burfield (left) helps a Sunnyvale resident pick out groceries for her family of five. Burfield has been a volunteer with Sunnyvale Community Services for the past three years.
Depending on the number of family members, each family can choose a gift or two for their child, a household item for their house, a puzzle or game and a book for the family and a two-week supply of food--five grocery bags full. In addition, the family will also receive gift cards for meat, fresh produce or anything else the family wishes to purchase, redeemable at Safeway or Pak 'n Save stores.
"I love the progam--it's very good," said Bobbie Norman, who was shopping for herself, her son and her 1-year-old grandson. This is the second year she has participated with the program. Norman said she was on disability and really appreciated being able to shop for food and gifts this way.
Marie Sacco, Seb's wife, said she has been volunteering at the center for 10 years. She said she gets very excited about it every year because it is an amazing program and keeps bringing both families and volunteers back year after year.
In order to be eligible for the program, families have to show proof that they are residents of Sunnyvale, they must fall under the income guidelines, and they must not misrepresent the number people in their family.
Due to the sheer number of participants, the adopt-a-family program would not have been fair or uniform in distribution, Tivol said. This arrangement allows every family to fill up five grocery bags with a combination of food and gifts for every family member, as well as household items.
"It's important to include food along with gifts," Tivol said.
Schools are closed during the holidays, and children, who receive subsidized meals in school, have to be fed at home. Families will also feel the crunch at reunions and gatherings during the holidays.
"We distribute food every day and every month," Tivol said referring to SCS' monthly food program, which distributes food on an emergency basis to more than 600 low-income families on the last Wednesday of every month.
According to Marie Ayende, director of volunteers and operations and the only paid employee at the center, SCS starts planning this event in June of every year. Then in early September, they meet with all the corporate sponsors and decide on the merchandise.
"Each of our sponsors pledges to take care of a certain item," Ayende said.
She said the Seventh Day Adventist Church pledged to donate toilet paper rolls for the event this year. Some of the donors donate money to SCS, which purchases the goods during supermarket sales throughout the year.
The collaborative effort of SCS, corporate sponsors, individual donors and an extended family of volunteers provides food and shelter to needy families throughout the year. Tivol said SCS' services have been especially meaningful and crucial this year, considering the country is still reeling from the economic slump and recent tragic events.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
