In Middle School, I remember struggling through math assignments and wondering why I would ever need to know that stuff! Well, it turns out even Elves use those math skills every day!

This month, I've had the pleasure of figuring out how many dollars "worth" of volunteer time we received last year.  The answer was staggering!  $350,000 according to Independent Sector's California rate! This amazing dollar figure means that 7,350 people came to our warehouses to help stuff backpacks and sort gifts for local children in need. Talk about being community supported!   

Are you ready to join your community's volunteer force?

Registration to the public opened this week for Holiday Wish Drive warehouse volunteer shifts, and they are filling up very quickly! If you're looking to experience the magic of our warehouse in December, visit the sign up page now!  

Got Space?  Though thousands of volunteers have already registered to help us receive, sort, and distribute gifts, this year, we still don't have a warehouse to direct the volunteers to.  Our Chief Operations Officer, Elf David, is getting a bit stressed as he searches for a huge, empty building for us to borrow.  Can you help us find space?     

While we don't know where Santa's Workshop will be, we DO know which gifts will be filling it up.  This year, the children are wishing for scooters, MP3 players, jackets & shoes, Lego kits and baby dolls with strollers. These "Top Gifts" represent what the children we work with have requested most. For those of you who choose to fulfill the wishes of the older children, teens, special needs adults or seniors, you have my deepest appreciation.

They may not occupy the majority of our recipient list, so their wishes don't make the top list, but we know the most requested wishes from this demographic include bath & body sets, shoes with Velcro, movie tickets, sweaters, and small appliances. Let us know if you find deals in the area! 

However you choose to participate in this year's Holiday Wish  Drive, you will be making a difference in the lives of the neediest in our community and we thank you for that!

With love, 

Jennifer 

Groups registered to lead a drive should be receiving their materials in the mail this week, but there are still thousands of children's wishes waiting to be sent out!

Visit our Lead a Drive page for tips and resources including sample announcements to help you fulfill more wishes, and let us know if you'd like us to mail you more.

No time to shop? A Virtual Giving Tree is a great alternative or addition to wish cards, especially if your group includes people working remotely.  While gifts are due December 10th, we can accept online donations through virtual giving trees through the end of December.  These online donations help cover the cost of our bulk purchases and allow us to take advantage of discounts on quality gifts.  Contact us to request a virtual tree or let us know if you have questions.

If you haven't signed up yet to lead a drive, register today! Remember: every gift is another wish fulfilled!

We get kids wishing for everything you can think of; the things their friends have, the toys they see on television ads, a toy they once had that is now lost. These kids are just like our kids. You never know what they want and they change their minds all the time! We always want to get them the coolest 'Anything Princess' that we can find; and we know that when they open that gift, they will be very excited.

Just a few months ago, the Elves talked to an 11 year old boy about his wish this season. A local social service agency has been supporting his family since he was a baby, and he still has the first gift he ever got from the Family Giving Tree. 'It is a little stuffed lion that I got when I was, I guess, a year old" he said. This child didn't know it came from the Family Giving Tree until a couple of years ago, but his 'little lion' lives in a special spot in the family's living room.

Over the last few years, his stuffed animal has been a very important thing to him, reminding him that he is special. Now, he says, he is too old to ask for anything else but reminded us that there are other kids that need those gifts! What he learned from receiving this toy from the Family Giving Tree was that there are other special children that deserve these gifts as well!

We have thousands of children's wishes on our list this year. Will you be an Elf for one of them? 

On Sunday, December 8th, Summitpointe Golf Club in Milpitas and the Family Giving Tree are teaming up to provide local golfers a bargain round of golf while benefiting local children in need!

Golfers playing between 10:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on the 8th and who bring in a gift for a low-income child will get to play for a special price of $39.  The gifts will be delivered to under-privileged Bay Area children through our 24th Annual Holiday Wish Drive. Check out our list of the most needed gifts!

To participate,  log on to Summitpointe Golf Club's website and book a tee time for December 8th. Any questions, or for more information, please contact Dawn at the Family Giving Tree at 408-946-3111 Ext. 226 or Evan at Summitpointe Golf Club  at 408-262-8813.

Come on out and enjoy a great day on the course while helping others in your community! 

A big "Thank You!" to SanDisk for being our 2013 Holiday  Wish Drive Presenting Sponsor. SanDisk has been a major supporter since 2001, and we are thrilled to continue the partnership.

Sponsorships allow Family Giving Tree to take advantage of manufacturer discounts and bulk purchasing, enabling us to help more children like Patrick, an 11 year old boy at Inn Vision Shelter Networks, who wishes for a remote control car because he loves technology and figuring out how things work. Please join SanDisk in supporting our 2013 Holiday Wish Drive and helping over 67,000 children like Patrick.

Whose elf will you be?

To learn more about becoming a corporate sponsor and how we can tailor a benefits package to meet your organization's needs, please contact Jeanne Clabaugh or Theo Olson. 

Online registration for Holiday Wish Drive warehouse volunteer shifts is now open to the public. Spaces fill up fast! Visit the volunteer page of our website, and click sign up now to request up to 10 volunteer spots (or 50 spots for groups registered to lead a drive).

Volunteers will be asked to help in various ways at the warehouse. Usually, these tasks are decided immediately before a group arrives, so we are not able to predict what you or your group will be doing in advance. Some of the things volunteers will be doing include: 

• Set Up - Help us hang signs, organize the stock area, and prep for the drive.

• Unloading/Loading - Assist individuals dropping off/picking up donations by unloading vehicles and moving donated gifts. (Requires lifting at least 25lbs)

• Rowing - Line up gifts in rows according to agency name and number. (Requires lifting at least 25lbs)

• QA - Checking to make sure that every child's wish is in the correct row and matches the child's request.

• Shopping- Going to warehouse store and shopping for first wish, alternate wish or item as close as possible to original wishes.

• Wrapping- Wrapping the gifts that agencies request to be wrapped and placing the gifts in their proper location.

• Bagging- Putting gifts in large bags for agencies to pick-up and labeling with packing slips to identify contents of bags.

• Packing/Cleanup - Break down supply carts, take down signage and help us clean up after a successful drive!

Commemorate your volunteer experience with a Family Giving Tree T-Shirt from GoodJoe.com. Tees for kids, and other fun gear available too!

Questions about volunteering in the warehouse? Contact our Volunteer Outreach Coordinator, Elf Shannon at (408) 946-3111 Ext. 214 or email volunteers@familygivingtree.org. We look forward to seeing you there! 

On November 5th, the Family Giving Tree kicked off our 24th Annual Holiday Wish Drive at a festive luncheon generously sponsored by Synopsys.

More than 160 host coordinators collected valuable information to share with their colleagues about how everyone can help make a low-income child's holiday wish come true. Check out the photos here!