Monterey, CA Toy Drives Bring Millions To Needy Children

View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California

It's great that many people are getting in the Christmas spirit despite the lackluster economic environment and the potential we could soon go off of the so-called fiscal cliff in less than a week.  It's heart warming to see that people are still donating both their time and money to worthwhile charities.  The front page of USA Today yesterday had the headline, "Give and your heart expands."  It told the story of a number of groups doing toy drives to help the 3 million children which are living in poverty now.  One toy drive has gone from collecting 5,000 toys two decades ago to 50,000 today, while the larger organization Toys for Tots expects to give out 7.2 million toys this holiday season.  As the economy has collapsed the number of families living in poverty has risen dramatically and this is a great cause.  The recession has hit seniors hard too and I think this could get even worse starting in 2014 when we are expected to start using a new CPI driver which is expected to dramatically reduce the annual COLA increase those on Social Security get. If you are in the holiday giving mood, we are currently doing a fundraising campaign.  I am proud that we were chosen by Monterey County Weekly as one of the charities highlighted in their annual Monterey County Gives program.  If you can afford to, please donate via the below web site link as there are matching funds available via this great program.  The way it works is, there is $100,000 in matching funds and it will be divided pro-rata amongst the participating organizations based on how much they raise.  So please help us stay in the top fundraisers list by clicking here.