Community Christmas Tree effort at mall to help needy Modesto children needs help
After a hiatus in 2020 brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, the Community Christmas Tree — and its tags that represent holiday wishes — has returned.
The tree has been operating for 37 years. In 1993, the Soroptimist clubs of Modesto took it over. Modesto Sunrise Rotary joined in as a sponsor three years ago.
The service organizations work with schools and social service providers to gather names of needy children who might otherwise not get a Christmas or holiday gift.
“And if they have siblings we make sure to include all children from 0-17 in a family,” said JoAnn Found, who provides regular updates to the public on the effort.
The children’s sizes and needs are gathered, as well a their hopes for gifts. These are placed onto tags, which people can check out from the tree at Vintage Faire Mall. Shoppers then select and purchase gifts for the children, then return them, unwrapped, to the kiosk. Volunteers sort the gifts and wrap them and then other helpers make sure they get delivered.
When the tree opened Friday, the clubs had 2,500 tags. As of Monday, only 169 tags had been checked out, Found said. The 21 tags taken on Sunday was the lowest volunteers have ever seen on a weekend.
People who are busy or don’t want to shop for individual children can make monetary donations or drop off new clothes. On Saturday, a family came by with bags of newly purchased coats and shoes. Volunteers will match those purchases with the children who need them.
Found said the tree, located next to the Furniture City store, will be staffed from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily through Dec. 18. She cautioned shoppers to not return items when the kiosk is empty because there is nowhere to secure donations.
In addition to shoppers, the clubs are looking for volunteers to both staff the second-floor kiosk and the gift wrapping room.
“We’ve been slow on volunteer signups,” Found said. She said the 2020 shutdown for the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted the numbers of people who come out every year to help. Last year, the service clubs accepted monetary donations but did all the shopping on their own.
More information is available at the Community Christmas Tree website.
