[New post] Hundreds attend West Sacramento’s Community Giveaway Day at River City High School
Gerardo Zavala posted: "A line of hundreds of Yolo County residents snaked through River City High School Saturday morning for the Yolo County Children's Alliance's 18th annual Community Giveaway Day, an event that supports hundreds of families and children throughout the county" Daily Democrat
A line of hundreds of Yolo County residents snaked through River City High School Saturday morning for the Yolo County Children's Alliance's 18th annual Community Giveaway Day, an event that supports hundreds of families and children throughout the county.
This is the first time the event is held at the local high school – located at 1 Raider Lane – which is due to its growing popularity.
"We realized last year that the neighborhood the Family Resource Center is located in is not able to sustain the number of people that attend these events," Jeneba Lahai, executive director for the alliance, said.
Additionally, Lahai said the alliance wanted to return to in-person events after having drive-thru events since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the high school was an ideal location for it.
"We're so grateful to Washington Unified School District," Lahai added. "They've been a great partner since the beginning. They were able to provide this space for us and their staff has been wonderful working with us and making sure that the community is taken care of."
Volunteer Meike Rothfuss (right) hands out a jacket to an event attendee Saturday in River City High School's cafeteria in West Sacramento. (Gerardo Zavala/Daily Democrat)
Event attendees were able to travel to three different stations during the event. The first was a vendor resource fair that allowed attendees to access resources provided by local organizations and get treats provided by Starbucks, one of this year's event's sponsors.
The second station was in the cafeteria and provided families with children free jackets, blankets, diapers and offered free flu vaccines provided by Yolo County.
The last station was a food distribution that provided close to 700 households with a Thanksgiving meal kit provided by the Yolo Food Bank.
"Our organization does not exist in a silo," Lahai emphasized. "We're not on an island by ourselves, we're not able to put on this event without our partners."
She noted that the alliance partners with the food bank, West Sacramento, Yolo County, the Washington Unified School District and that the work it does would not be possible without its volunteers and the people who donate "and make sure that this event happens every year."
Furthermore, Lahai said what makes this event unique is the consistency of the partners and the support it receives each year.
"The partners come back every year to make sure that this event happens," she stressed. "Donation-wise, this is not an event that's grant-funded at all. We fundraise for it, so I think the consistency is the unique aspect of it."
Malcolm Kushner, owner of Free Books for Kids, hands out free books during the 18th annual Community Giveaway Day in West Sacramento. Kushner noted his Sacramento-based nonprofit organization has given roughly 186,000 books in the last 10 years. (Gerardo Zavala/Daily Democrat)
Oscar Villegas, board chair for the Yolo County Board of Supervisors, attended the event and explained that his wife, Katie Villegas, was the first executive director of the alliance.
"The concept of finding a way to give back in a special way sort of originated with her," Villegas recalled. "The beginning of the holidays was marked by bags of food, toys and clothes in our front room because when it got started, there was no place to keep these things. For us, it marked a personal point in time when we knew that our front room could no longer handle more gifts as we had to move them into the event."
Villegas called Community Giveaway Day a "signature event" for the city that marks the beginning of the holidays. Additionally, he recommended anyone needing assistance during the holidays to reach out to the alliance for guidance.
"The county really leans heavily on our service providers and the children's alliance as a family resource center really is kind of a catch-all for a lot of needs that families have," Villegas said. "We depend heavily on this organization to be that conduit for all things that families need. My message for folks is when you're not sure, call the Yolo County Children's Alliance. They probably will have a lead of where you ought to be going for services or whatever your needs might be."
David Ortiz, a West Sacramento resident for 40 years, said this was his first time attending the event and appreciated the help it provided him and his family.
"It helps me out by giving us some food and some jackets that take some of the expenses off of us," Ortiz said in Spanish.
Tony Cai, a junior at River City High School, said he's volunteered with the alliance for the last three years and typically helps distribute toys in December. He was a personal assistant during the event and helped guide people around the school.
"Being able to help over 500 families in need feels really great," Cai remarked. "If there's anyone who just wants to help people out, do this. It's free and you don't need to pay anything to help people."
To learn more about the alliance and how to get involved, visit yolokids.org.
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