Contact: Delis Alejandro | 310-566-1530 |
It's time for St. Monica Holiday Outreach! We have wonderful ways for you to share your holiday spirit and joy this season with our neighbors in need. Check out the opportunities below to contribute to our volunteer for Share the Season (Adopt-a-Family & Stockings for Singles), the Angel Toy Drive, and the St. Joseph Center Holiday Party.
Thanks to everyone who Shared the Season and provided holiday gifts and meals for needy families and individuals (usually persons who are homeless, refugees, or senior citizens) from the St. Joseph Center.
At press time, we were close to completing the adoption of 180 families (30 more still need to be adopted) and 525 Stockings for Singles (We have about 45 more to be adopted.) Please complete asap as Santa Claus arrives soon! We know many of you have checks in the mail or haven't clicked online yet below.
Once all families and Stockings for Singles have been adopted, we will have gifted over 1000 men, women, and children with toys, food, and the warmth of our St. Monica Catholic Community.
St. Joseph Center has already begun distributing your donations to all the families.
Please make out your check out to "St. Monica," including "Share the Season" on the memo line. Please drop off your check at Caruso Center Reception or mail it to the parish (725 California Avenue, Santa Monica, 90403)) noting "Share the Season/Adopt" on your envelope. For those of you donating by check...
I wish you a blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Thanks to all of you who supported the Angel Toy Drive! We collected hundreds of toys and gifts distributed to children and teens attending local schools—Roosevelt, Grant, Edison, McKinley, and Will Rogers—and reside at Covenant House. Also, generous donations from many of you allowed us to gift all the local schools with Target gift cards to get even more toys.
Special thanks to the many Elves who helped collect and stash toys after all the weekend liturgies. A special thank you to our Lower School for their special Toy Drive and thank you, YMA, for help in sorting a couple of hundred toys at Vespers.
After a three-year pandemic break, we were happy to welcome the St. Joseph Center back and host a Holiday Party for many of their clients and families. 202 guests joined us for carnival games, crafts, raffles, music, lunch, and a visit from Santa. Adding two bounce houses and a Photo Booth only made it merrier.
Approximately 50 Elves from St. Monica and the St. Joseph Center Community helped in a myriad of tasks ranging from face painting to leading games to supporting budding artists to leading sing-alongs. A big thank you to Brianna Rodrigues and Kevin Nazal for organizing the program, entertainment, and our volunteers.
Thank you, Shelly Aydin and the St. Joseph Center family, for allowing us to host this wonderful event again. Here is hoping we get to do it all over again next December!