Fullfill-A-Wish

People Helping People’s Fulfill-A-Wish ensures that over 250 low-income children and their parents have gifts they can open on Christmas morning. The Fulfill-A-Wish program is truly about “people helping people,” without support from the community, Fulfill-A-Wish would simply not be possible.

Imagine being a single mother, working two jobs, living in a cramped apartment and barely able to put food on your table. You know there isn’t enough money for even a special meal on Christmas day, so gifts for your children are out of the question. Worst of all, imagine the sadness that you must feel as the stores and street light up with the excitement of Christmas and you know that your children will not be sharing the joy.

Every Christmas, we ask the community for donations of toys, teen and adult gifts, money and time to make this three-days of sharing and caring a time to remember. Our donors and volunteers experience how good it can feel to give to others in need and the individuals and families that come to select their gifts at our boutique benefit from the kindness of others.

Fulfill-A-Wish requires the help of many volunteers, beginning in August when letters about the even are sent to stores and the community to request donations.

In September, letters are sent out to other service organizations to invite their participation in the program. In October and November we get busier; securing sites for the drop-boxes, preparing and distributing them to sites throughout the valley and preparing our shopping lists. By December, we are collecting the toys and gifts, shopping for additional items that will round out the selection, picking up donations from the drop boxes daily, registering qualified families and assigning them a date and time to shop at the boutique.

The day before the boutique opens, the store must be set up and decorated and full compliment of staff and volunteers are needed to check families in, assist them with their shopping, wrap their gifts and re-stock the boutique throughout the day.  After the shopping is done, staff and volunteers will clean up the store and pack any remaining gifts away for next year.

Sound like a lot of work?  Well, it is, and this is why we need YOU to join us in making this amazing annual event more successive year. There are many ways you can help and we would like to hear from you about how you would like to help with Fulfill-A-Wish. Together, let’s make sure we don’t have to turn away families in need!

For more information about how you can help with this extraordinary even please click on How To Help. You can also contact Kim Morrison at 805-686-0295 or email to kim@syvphp.org.