Christmas Families Project History

Christmas Families Project – 2019

Wow! What a year this has been for the Christmas Families Project. Thanks to your generous donations of time and money, we have been able to provide a special Christmas to 117 children and 50 families!

Our Christmas luncheon was very special as well! We had two guest speakers, from Helping Hands Nurturing Center and from Women of Worth. Both of these young women offered heartfelt words about our group and the agencies that support them. A very special surprise was having the recipient of the alto saxophone last year come and play for us! We’d like to extend a special thanks to them all for participating in our luncheon program this year. One other note of gratitude goes out to the Decorations Committee, as the centerpieces on the tables were amazing. Thank you one and all!

We also want to thank everyone on the CFP Committee and the Knitting Group for their generous donations to help make this program a success. We would be remiss not to include our thanks to the Elves who were responsible for assembling our requested bicycles and getting them ready for delivery to our families. It is truly magical the way this whole project comes together – it takes a village, and you are all so appreciated.

Looking forward to next year, we are in need of gift boxes and gift bags in small, medium and large sizes and gift tag stickers. Your donations of these items can be brought to the January luncheon or you may contact either of the Christmas Family Chairpersons and they will make arrangements to take receipt of your items.

Thank you for your continued support of this very important program.

2019 Christmas Families Project – Donors

The Special Items Team would like to thank the following donors for their help with the CFP this year:

JC Penney provided a 25% discount off clothing and toys.

One of our Newcomers’ families donated a bike and helmet.

Another Newcomer Family donated two Razor scooters and helmets.

Another Newcomer Family’s German friends donated two Razor scooters.

One of our members donated an American Girl doll.

Another donated a Portacrib for a HHNC family.

Thanks to the team leaders, as well as the Special Needs Coordinator.

Thanks also to our Fashion Show Chair who called members to provide help and direction and who assisted in making the Special Items purchases.

Christmas Families Goodie Bag Project

Each year we have requested items from you so the parents of our children will have a special gift as well. You have been so generous, and we have provided toiletries, dental care items and other small gifts.

The crochet and knitting groups have made beautiful scarves for each of our parents. Thank you so much for all your hard work.

This year we have enough toothbrushes and toothpaste but need dental floss. There are plenty of small toiletry items, but we need larger items.

Here are some suggestions, although you may think of even better ideas to include:

Makeup, grooming items, lotions, shampoo, manicure and pedicure kits and polish, bath and spa items, stretchy house shoes/slippers, gloves in many sizes, socks, flashlights, tools for home maintenance or kitchen, towels, batteries, wallets, blankets or throws, notepads and pens or pencils.

Time is running out! Please bring your items to the October Luncheon.

Thank you in advance for your support of this project.

October Live Auction 2019 Review

Our 2019 Live Auction was amazing, generating $5,504 for our Christmas Families Project. A big THANK YOU goes out to everyone who contributed to making it so successful: our donors, Newcomers greeters, runners, spotters and you, our bidders. We would especially like to express our appreciation to our marvelous auctioneer, John Renwick, owner of RE/MAX Performance, who made this event both entertaining and profitable.

An enormous thank you goes to our Live Auction Committee Co-Chairs, and to our dedicated committee members who worked diligently all year to bring you fun and interesting items.

We would also like to extend our appreciation to the businesses and members of our community who generously donated to our Live Auction.

Affordable Auto Detailing Arco AM PM
Auburn’s Finest Window Washing Baskin Robbins
Bistro 221 CA Organics Market & Café
Cirino’s on Main Street Community Asian Theatre of the Sierras
Come Paint with Us Dale’s Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning
Dharma Acupuncture Grass Valley Florist
Inconcert Sierra Lazy Dog Chocolateria
Lefty’s Grill Music in the Mountains
Olive Groove Onyx Theatre
Pine Street Burgers/South Pine Café Riebes Auto Parts
Sierra Theatres Sierra Stages Community Theatre
Terra Bella Salon Tim the Tree Man
Timbers at Alta Sierra Country Club Truckee River Ranch Lodge & Restaurant

October Silent Auction 2019 Review

A huge THANK YOU to the many generous members who donated some wonderful treasures for our 2019 Silent Auction. And another huge THANK YOU to all the bidders who persevered in their bidding until they succeeded in winning their item. The magical combination of donors and bidders made the auction a wonderful success, bringing a total of $2,004 for the benefit of Christmas Families Project.

Thank you, too, to the many volunteers who processed the donated items, set them out for display and cashiered. The tremendous success would not have been possible without you.

October Auction 2019 – Other Donations

Some of the women at the October Luncheon wanted to participate in the Auctions without making a purchase. Those donations added another $450 to the bottom line.

The total income generated for our Christmas Families Project is a whopping $7,958. Congratulations and hearty thanks to all the workers and donors who made this happen.

If you want to make a cash or check donation, we’ll be passing donation baskets at the December 4 luncheon. Please make your check payable to Newcomers. You can also mail your check, marked “CFP donation,” to the Treasurer.


Christmas Families Project – 2018

Newcomers Christmas Family Project committee

Newcomers Christmas Family Project committee

There were 153 happy children last year in Nevada County thanks to all of you, our generous members and volunteers. As you know our group supports Helping Hands Nurturing Center, Women of Worth and the Friendship Club with this program. At the time of this writing, we are 98 percent done with all shopping, wrapping, and delivery. What a year it has been! Beginning with the proceeds of the live and silent auctions totaling $11,284 we were able to increase the dollar amount of the gift cards that we give to each family from $15 to $25. Then the angel factors kicked in – from setting the budget to getting the lists from the agencies, inputting the information, getting that to the shopper coordinators, then on to the shoppers and from there to the wrapping center for wrapping, bagging, tagging and finally delivery to the agencies. And last but certainly not least, the bicycles and scooters were purchased by our Special Needs Committee and assembled by our wonderful group of guys. All of this in a 6-week time span!

Some of our requests this year were interesting to say the least, such as the 11-year-old girl who requested an alto saxophone. We confirmed the need with the agency, and it took off from there.  Since it was above our $80 per child reimbursement for shoppers, this request was turned over to our Special Needs Coordinator who began her hunt for the instrument. When the true cost of the item ($230 to $300) was determined, we decided to ask for help from our members at our Christmas luncheon. Once again our expectations were far exceeded, and your generosity amazed us. We were able to purchase the alto saxophone! In addition, there was a 17-year-old girl who wanted tools for a building project she is working on. Another story was about a 16-year-old girl who requested luggage for an upcoming trip with the school choir to Europe. This will be her very first time out of the country. What an opportunity!

We want to express our sincere thanks for the support we have received, this being our first year at the helm. It has been a great learning experience for sure! We are already looking forward to next year. We also want to let you know that we are always looking for more volunteers, especially in regard to our committee members. If you are interested, please contact either of the CFP Chairs, and we will be happy to talk with you.

As we wrap this season, we already have a list of wrapping supplies we will need for next year such as medium to large gift bags, all sizes of gift boxes and tissue paper. Our hope is that if you are out shopping at some of the after-Christmas sales, you will keep these items in mind. You can bring what you have to the January luncheon. Again, thank you VERY much for your continued support of this wonderful program.

2018 Christmas Families Project – Business Donors

The Special Items Team would like to thank the following businesses for their help with the CFP this year:

1. KMart – Barbara Read, Assistant Manager, for bikes, scooters and helmets for 27 kids

2. JC Penney – Selena Aull, Manager, for a 25% discount off clothing and toys

3. Quietech – Melissa Hannebrink, Owner, for offering to help with computer-related issues

4. The Music Store, 4815 Granite Drive, Rocklin, CA 95677 – Brian and Kevin Gillette, Owners, for their discount on the alto sax purchase.