Yolo County Children’s Alliance (YCCA) celebrates 10 years of giving with largest giveaway event yet
Yolo County Children’s Alliance seeks donations to distribute a record 600 Thanksgiving meals in one day
(From Press Release) – Yolo County Children’s Alliance (YCCA) is celebrating 10 years of giving with its largest community event to date: the 10th Annual West Sacramento Community Giveaway Day. YCCA will distribute Thanksgiving dinners, blankets, coats, and toys to families in need on Saturday, November 19th at Westfield Village Elementary School, 508 Poplar Ave., in West Sacramento.
This event serves hundreds of families, inspired by the act of helping a single family 10 years ago. The idea to collect and distribute winter essentials was born by 10-year-old West Sacramento resident Vince Villegas, who decided to adopt a homeless family in West Sacramento for the holidays. He solicited donations on their behalf and, with the help of his family, presented the items to the family just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Vince’s commitment to help a stranger in need inspired YCCA Executive Director, Katie Villegas, who is also Vince’s mom. “It was an emotional experience that not only made a difference in that family’s life, but also in ours. Vince knew we had to do more. I knew we could do more.” Together they planned a larger event for the following year, creating the 1st Annual West Sacramento Community Giveaway Day in 2006. The mission of the event has remained the same ever since: to meet the needs of the working poor in our community, support West Sacramento families, and help West Sacramento kids succeed in school.
Since then, West Sacramento Community Giveaway Day has evolved into a true community event – relying heavily on crowd-sourced funding and support from key partners such as the Yolo Food Bank, Washington Unified School District, City of West Sacramento, Sutter Health, Waste Management, St. Joseph’s Mobile Mall, Project Linus, local businesses, as well as scores of volunteers.
As our roster of supporters and partners continues to grow, so does our impact in the community. Joining the fun this year are: Avant Page, a Davis-based translation services firm that is hosting a tri-lingual book drive; Spaan’s Cookies of West Sacramento, who generously donated 2000 cookies for volunteers to hand out to clients waiting in lines; and, the 7th grade class of Congregation Bet Haverim in Davis, who contributed $1,000 to the West Sacramento Community Give Away Day as part of their collective mitzvah (good deed) project. They raised funds and then reviewed formal proposals and presentations from several local, national, and international organizations before making their decision.
Now, more than ever, fundraising will be an essential part of this event’s success. As this year marks the 10th anniversary of YCCA’s Annual Community Giveaway Day event, YCCA seeks to set a goal of distributing a record 600 meal bags to families, seniors and others in need. Additionally, in past years, event organizers have only been able to distribute 2 coats per family due to high attendance and limited supply. This year, YCCA has set a goal to supply each child who enters the event with a warm winter coat.
YCCA invites you to celebrate 10 years of community service by making a contribution; your $5 donation covers the cost of one meal bag and $10 covers the cost of one child’s coat. Interested supporters can contribute to this event by donating directly to YCCA via our website at www.yolokids.org/donate.
