The holiday season is fast approaching and the spirit of giving will soon fill the air. If volunteering or a charitable contribution is on your holiday to-do list, there are plenty of local options from which to choose.
Each week at Calvary Church, 700 E. Monte Vista Ave., the spirit of giving is on full display as volunteers busily construct food bags and boxes to be distributed to families in need.
Typically, the church provides food for about 250 families. During, and leading up to, the recent government shutdown, that number doubled, according to Pastor Jose Magaña.
“At the end of the week, by the time we help the Turlock Gospel Mission, the United Samaritans Foundation, the Salvation Army, and eight or nine other churches, we help a total of about 3,700 people,” said Magaña. “And it’s all done by volunteers; nobody gets paid.”
Those in need can pick up food at Calvary Church tonight beginning at 7:30 p.m.
“We see a lot of people who need help,” said volunteer Lilian Quinonez. “We not only enjoy helping people, but we enjoy being here as a family, with Pastor.”
One woman, a single-mother of three daughters who asked that she not be identified, talked about the spirit of giving she’s encountered at Calvary Church.
“I never before in my life had to ask for help or have been on food stamps,” said the woman, whose Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits were cut off due to the government shutdown. “I’m usually the one giving help. I like to help people. They’ve been so nice here and so positive and very welcoming.”
At one point Tuesday, as volunteers were unloading donated food off a truck, Magaña welcomed a woman wearing a traditional hijab with the phrase “As-salaam-alaikum,” an Arabic greeting that means “peace be unto you.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re Christian, Muslim, atheist, whatever,” said Magaña. “If you’re hungry, we’ll feed you.”
There are a few restrictions, however.
Food recipients must be residents of Stanislaus County, and identification is checked only to make sure that multiple members of a single family aren’t “double-dipping” and taking home multiple boxes of food. Other than that, there are no questions asked.
“There are a lot of things that we prepare every week so that we can give families a bag that will have 10 to 15 items in it,” said Pastor Wade Robinson. “Volunteers push grocery carts — we call them Uber drivers — and the cart gets filled up and then they meet with families that are in our gym, and they accompany them and deliver the groceries right to their cars for them.”
For information about becoming a volunteer, call 209-569-3310 and ask for Magaña.
Calvary Church is not the only outlet for giving this holiday season. Other churches and organizations are stepping up.
— Monte Vista Chapel’s Operation Christmas Child is currently underway. Empty shoe boxes are available at the church, 1619 E. Monte Vista Ave., to take and fill with gifts. Boxes can be dropped off in the church’s courtyard Sunday and again on Nov. 23. For more information, email Susan Bunch at tsbunch2@gmail.com.
— The Salvation Army’s annual Red Kettle Kickoff will be held on Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. at The Grand Oak, 1450 N. Soderquist Road. Individual tickets are $40, and tables of 10 can be reserved for $450. The guest speaker at the event is Erin Nelson, the executive director of Jessica’s House. To purchase tickets or reserve a table, call 209-667-6091. To sign up to be a Salvation Army bell-ringer, visit RegisterToRing.com.
The Salvation Army also provides a Christmas Eve lunch that’s free to the public.
— Turlock Together is collecting non-perishable food items such as canned green beans, peas, corn, tuna, soup, peanut butter, and pasta. Donations can be deposited in the blue barrels located at all Turlock fire stations.
— The Turlock Police Department’s Operation Blue Santa is in need of donations for its annual gift-giving program. The department is requesting cash donations, gift cards, blue wrapping paper, and tape. Also, you can sponsor a family by calling Crime Prevention Specialist Melanie Suffecool at 209-656-3153.
— Westside Ministries is holding its annual Winter Coat Drive, requesting donations of new and lightly used coats. Anybody that drops off a jacket or toy at Vito’s Ristorante and Pizzeria, 3851 Crowell Road, will be entered into a drawing for gift cards to local restaurants.
— The Turlock Gospel Mission, 437 S. Broadway, will hold its annual Community Christmas Feast on Dec. 20 at noon. It features a lunch, stocking distribution, caroling, crafts, and a Christmas store. TGM is asking for donations of wrapping paper, bags, tissue paper, and tape. To volunteer or to make a donation, call 209-656-1033.
