The Forgotten Patients Toy Project for the children of people who have mental illness brought joy to 389 children last year. Each child received a stocking, a new outfit and a new toy for Christmas. Without the program, they would not have received anything.
The average income for the families was $430 a month.This year, between 400 and 500 children, who live in poverty with parents who have a mental illness, will likely have no Christmas without community support. Most of them (some in their teens) received a Christmas stocking for the first time last year.
The project needs donations of clothing, particularly shoes, boots and coats. There's also great demand for toys, small radios and cassette players and art supplies. Call 484-7845 for information.
- Access Long Distance will bring Santa, a bilingual Mrs. Claus and an elf to the Intermountain Unit of Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children on Monday, Dec. 20, to brighten the holiday season for the children who will be there at Christmas.
Some of the children have come to the hospital from Mexico.
Activities, from 2 to 4 p.m., include free long-distance phone calls via cellular phones (including back home to Mexico), bilingual stories told by Mrs. Claus, pictures with Santa and gifts. The children will also sing songs they learned for the Shriners' Christmas play.
- Salt Lake City's Public Safety dispatchers have been involved in a cover-up for the past several weeks.
They used their break time and their own money to make 25 quilts for children at Shriners' Hospital for Crippled Children. The quilts range from crib size to full size.
Sixty-four dispatchers work in the office, handling hundreds of thousands of police and fire calls every year. Nearly all the dispatchers have been involved in some way in the quilt project. Many came in early or stayed late so the quilts would be ready for Christmas.
- More than $2,500 was raised by Equitable employees and management to provide Christmas for YWCA's Abused and Battered Women's Shelter and the Odyssey House Teen Drug Rehabilitation Program, both located in the Salt Lake area.
For more than 20 years, the company's employees have sponsored a Sub for Santa program. Planning and fund raising, which used to begin in November, now begins in June. Employees and management join forces to raise money with bake and craft sales, raffles and other activities.
Friday, they delivered a television, vacuum, heaters, strollers, clothing, blankets and linens, toys and games to the YWCA. Odyssey House received a new television and VCR, vacuum, clothing, games and personal gifts. Christmas dinners were also provided.
Employees also made and donated 24 lap quilts and afghans to a local nursing home.
- The Family Support Center will hold its annual luminaria lighting Tuesday, Dec. 21, beginning at 5:30 p.m. on the west steps of the Salt Lake City-County Building.
A luminaria is a paper sack with a design punched into the side containing a small amount of sand and a candle. The effect is similar to a jack-o-lantern.
Participants include Salt Lake Mayor Deedee Corradini, a representative from the attorney general's office, support center director Jayne L. Wolfe and board director president Coralie Ashton Alder. The Holladay United Church of Christ Children's Choir will perform musical numbers.
The center is a private nonprofit organization whose primary mission is the prevention and treatment of child abuse and neglect and the general enhancement of family function.
- Fred Meyer delivered two trailers with food, clothing and household goods to the Salvation Army and Deseret Industries in Salt Lake as part of its annual holiday donation.
Donations totaling $700,000 in goods were provided to 19 cities in Utah, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Idaho.
- Crossroads Urban Center wants to help thousands of needy Utah families have a Christmas meal. Donations for the holiday food distribution may be brought to Crossroads Urban Center, 347 S. 400 East. They need holiday foods, especially turkeys, by Wednesday, Dec. 22.
The food will be distributed at the YWCA at 322 E. 300 South, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 23.
Clients will need to bring identification for all members of the household. Picture IDs are required for all adults, while birth certificates, medical or immunization cards or lease agreements may serve to identify the children. Social Security cards are not acceptable as identification.
For information, call Crossroads at 364-7765.