Posted 11/16/11 – Judging by the signup total so far, Foothill Unity Center will be providing up to 2,000 registered client families, including about 3,000 children, with generous food boxes at its annual Thanksgiving and holiday distributions at the Los Angeles County Arboretum in Arcadia on November 21-22 and December 18-19. The families will be coming to the events from across the Center’s eleven-city service area.
At both distributions, each family will take home a holiday food box packed for its size, with meat and the makings for a festive holiday dinner. At the December 18 holiday event for families with children, every family will also take home an opaque bag pre-packed with new toys and clothing for each child. Since the gifts are not visible, parents can wrap and give them as part of their own holiday traditions. Children will also enjoy fun activities, special drawings and a chance to share their wishes with Santa.
“When you’re faced with the threat of hunger every day, the holidays are an especially difficult time,” says Center Executive Director Joan Whitenack. “Each year, with the help of local residents, businesses, organizations and churches, we’re able to give families in crisis a generous helping of holiday cheer. That gift comes with an even more valuable one: knowing that their neighbors really do care.”
Funds are still needed to cover the cost of presenting these events. Donations may be sent by check to Foothill Unity Center, 415 West Chestnut Avenue, Monrovia CA 91016, or made securely online at www.foothillunitycenter.org.
Children’s gifts are also needed for the family holiday distribution day. The Center invites the community to pick up paper angels hand-decorated by volunteers from schools, businesses, churches and more. Written on each angel is one child’s gift wishes. Angel adopters may purchase one or more of the gifts listed and return them to the Center with the angel.
It takes hundreds of hands to make these events happen. For information on volunteer days and shifts, visit the Center’s website, foothillunitycenter.org, or call Raina at (626) 358-3486.
About Foothill Unity Center
Foothill Unity Center, Inc. has been serving low-income families and those in crisis for over 30 years. Founded in 1980 in a church closet to provide food to a few hungry families, the Center has become the major source of food, health services and crisis assistance for over 4,000 low-income families in its service area: Pasadena, Altadena, South Pasadena, Arcadia, Sierra Madre, Monrovia, Duarte, Azusa, Baldwin Park and Irwindale. In 1991, the organization was incorporated. In 2008, it was federally designated the Community Action Agency for the Foothill Area.
The Center acts as a lifeline for very low income individuals and families who are struggling to survive. Clients are often unemployed, employed at wages too low to provide for their families, on welfare, or facing a temporary crisis. It also serves seniors, homeless, disabled, emancipated foster youth, victims of domestic violence, and students on limited incomes. 38% of its clients are children.