Calling All Elves!

Original post made by Carrie M. , Midtown, on Dec 13, 2014

Calling all elves! You have from now until Tuesday evening, December 23, to help make this holiday season brighter for thousands of low-income children throughout the Bay Area. The Family Giving Tree is seeking last-minute donations and support. Visit www.familygivingtree.org for more information on how you and your family can get involved. Former Palo Alto resident, and Paly graduate, Jennifer Cullenbine, founded this non-profit organization 24 years ago. It began as a class assignment, when Cullenbine was in a MBA program at San Jose State University. Her professor challenged the class to come up with a project that would add “value” to our community. Working with other students, Collenbine proposed organizing a community-wide effort to give donated presents to some low-income children in East Palo Alto. Today, Collenbine recalled that her team-mates immediately rejected the idea, but after class, one of them quietly offered her encouragement not to give up. Now, nearly a quarter of a century later, more than 7,000 volunteers are part of the Family Tree Giving team, this year providing donated holiday gifts and school supplies to as many as 100,000 children throughout the Bay Area. Today, scores of volunteers spent hours at the Family Giving Tree’s bustling warehouse in Milpitas, sorting thousands of donated gifts. This morning’s volunteers included members of the Palo Alto Kiwanis Club Web Link and Palo Alto Girl Scout Troop 60893. The Milpitas warehouse features a convenient gift drop-off drive-through. Come see the place that Collenbine rightly calls “heaven.”

Photo taken Saturday, Dec. 13, Milpitas--members of Palo Alto Girl Scout Troop 60893 Marissa Ludwig, Rory Flanders, Ellen Goncher and Michaela Fogarty with Jennifer Cullenbine, founder and “Queen Elf” of the Family Giving Tree.

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