San Mateo's Samaritan House gears up for holidays

For months, the nonprofit’s staff and hundreds of volunteers have been preparing for several food distributions, Thanksgiving dinners and two holiday toy distributions on several days in November and December. Recruiting volunteers from San Mateo High School, registering clients to receive services and working with corporations and individual donors to gather supplies, the events drawing hundreds of people are the product of many hands, said Laura Bent, the nonprofit’s chief operating officer.

With more than 1,500 volunteers expected to help with this year’s series of events, the nonprofit has seen community members from all walks of life step forward to make sure all are able to have a joyful holiday this year, said Jessica Mitchell, the nonprofit’s director of development and communications.

“This really is the community coming together to fight poverty and lift lives,” she said.

On Nov. 16, Samaritan House offered its first of several food distribution events, which typically provides a family enough food to make a traditional holiday meal, said Bent. Clients can walk down a line of food items ranging from turkeys to fresh fruit and vegetables and select food items, and volunteers are on stand-by to help them carry their groceries, she said.

Bent said Samaritan House partners with Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, a nonprofit providing free, healthy food to those in need, to supply a large portion of the items available at the food distributions. But she added Safeway and other local grocery stores have supported the effort with food drives, as have nearby residents who respond to the nonprofit’s requests for specific items in high demand at this time of year, like turkeys and chickens.

In addition to the Holiday Toy Shop event Samaritan House offers each year at the San Mateo County Event Center, Samaritan House will put on another toy distribution event in the southern part of San Mateo County to serve residents in East Palo Alto and Menlo Park, said Bent. Slated to serve some 3,500 children, the Holiday Toy Shop at the Event Center is slated for Dec. 21, said Bent, who said the date and location for the second event estimated to reach another 500 children have yet to be determined.

Mitchell and Bent noted the food distributions and toy drives are open to registered clients only, and individuals may call the nonprofit at (650) 347-3648 to register for the events. The nonprofit’s Thanksgiving dinner is open to all.

Bent said the nonprofit is working to meet the needs of the increasing number of families being pushed into poverty, and relies on the efforts of its surrounding community to be able to make the holidays joyous for everyone. She said the nonprofit has historically seen a need for larger toys, gift cards for teens and coats of varying sizes at this time of year, and said those interested in volunteering at one of the nonprofit’s holiday events are always welcome to do so.

“This is the most exhausting yet rewarding time of year for me, personally, in that my personal mission truly matches with Samaritan House’s mission,” she said.

For Mitchell, seeing the Samaritan House’s holistic approach to clients in full force during the holidays makes the extra effort worth it. She could recall a client who connected with Samaritan House’s services through the nonprofit’s clinic and was diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer during the holidays last year. Though she was encountering a wide array of challenges with her health, the woman, who is set to celebrate the holidays with her family this year, was able to receive food through Samaritan House’s distribution events and provide toys for her children through the Holiday Toy Shop, said Mitchell.

“For a mom who’s going through something like that … being able to step in and provide that joy for clients who are participating in our programs is really profound,” she said.

Call Samaritan House’s Client Services Office at (650) 347-3648 or stop by the nonprofit’s headquarters at 4031 Pacific Blvd. in San Mateo to register for Samaritan House’s food distribution and holiday toy shop events. A food distribution event is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Nov. 23 at College Park Elementary School, 715 Indian Ave. in San Mateo.

Samaritan House’s Thanksgiving dinner is open to the public and will be held Nov. 28 from noon to 3 p.m. at San Mateo’s Martin Luther King Community Center, 725 Monte Diablo Ave. Visit samaritanhousesanmateo.org to sign up to volunteer or for information on how to donate items to the nonprofit’s holiday activities.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

(650) 344-5200 ext. 106