With Halloween just celebrated, People Helping People is turning its attention to preparations for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

PHP, which coordinates Santa Ynez Valley-wide programs at Thanksgiving and Christmas, is already busy planning and recruiting volunteers to help those in need during these holidays. However, PHP needs help from the community to make the programs work.

Nancy Englander, PHP board president, said that aiding those most in need was one of the primary reasons she joined PHP.

“This is a time when we celebrate all that we have to be grateful for, the material, family, and spiritual,” she said. “Unfortunately, even in this beautiful and bountiful valley, we have neighbors that struggle financially or are alone or lonely during the holidays.”

Normally at Thanksgiving, PHP expands its regular food program to distribute turkeys and all the fixings to approximately 150 low-income families and seniors. To do this, PHP must use donations to supplement the 5,000 pounds of food it normally delivers prior to the holiday.

However, this year, PHP expects to help 175 to 200 families, as much as one-third more than usual.

According to PHP’s Executive Director, Dean Palius, the local food program has grown by more than 30 percent over the past year.

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“This is indicative of the national financial troubles hitting home here in the Santa Ynez Valley,” he said. “People’s hours have been reduced or they have been laid off. Seniors on fixed incomes have been hurt by rising food costs."

Palius stated that even in normal years, it is a struggle for the agency to meet the need at the holidays.

“The County Food Bank just does not have enough turkeys for all those in need throughout the County,” he said. “We have been fortunate to regularly receive donations from local schools, Rotary Clubs, and the Chumash Business Committee and Casino, but some years there still are not enough. It is truly heartbreaking to be the one to have to turn needy people away."

Last year, PHP alerted the public to the need early in November and the community responded. Palius said he hopes that PHP can once again count on local donations to help those most in need.

Donations of turkeys or hams and other traditional accompaniments can be made at PHP’s Service Center at 545 N. Alisal Road in Solvang. Freezer and storage space are available so PHP can begin taking donations immediately. You may also call 686-0295 to arrange a donation.

Even before Thanksgiving arrives, PHP must begin planning for its Santa Ynez Valley-wide Christmas program, Fulfill-A-Wish.

In the true spirit of the Christmas season, a large cast of PHP staff and volunteers distributes toys, gifts and clothing to needy families throughout the area. Although families must meet income qualifications to participate, the eligibility and distribution process is completed with the utmost sensitivity to and respect for the dignity of the families.

All items distributed at Fulfill-A-Wish are derived from donated items or purchased with cash gifts specified for that purpose. More than $20,000 in clothing, gifts and toys and 50 volunteers are needed to meet the most basic needs. Last year, PHP’s Fulfill-A-Wish Program helped more than 100 families, including nearly 330 children.

Lois Craig, PHP’s associate executive director, said that the overwhelming gratitude displayed by parents who are enabled to provide something on Christmas day for their kids makes the tremendous organizational effort worthwhile.

“It is a wonderful feeling to help so many celebrate who otherwise could not,” Craig said.

According to Craig, many of those assisted are victims of domestic violence, single moms, and very low-income families working in the service and agricultural industries.

PHP will distribute Christmas gifts from the Fulfill-A-Wish Boutique whose location is yet to be determined. (Last year’s temporary location in Solvang is rented and PHP is searching for a spot.)

The boutique, successfully opened for the first time in 1995, will be decorated, stocked by volunteers and be ready for operation on Dec. 17, 18, and 19. On those days, selected families will be scheduled to visit the boutique and choose a limited number of gifts based upon the size of their family.

“This program represents an amazing outpouring of generosity of many individuals and groups in the Valley,” said PHP’s Palius. “A great debt of gratitude is owed to the organizations that sponsor locations for donation boxes, the mothers and daughters of the National Charity League that donate literally hundreds of hours to decorate and manage the boutique operation and to the many other generous volunteers and donors who give toys, clothing, and funds.”

To make donating to the PHP Christmas program convenient, gift-wrapped donation boxes advertising “Fulfill-A-Wish” and “Toys for Tots” (the organizations are partners in the Valley) will be available beginning in mid-November.

The boxes will be located throughout the Santa Ynez Valley in businesses, churches, schools and government offices. People interested in making a donation can purchase a new item or items and drop them unwrapped in any one of the donation boxes or deliver them to the People Helping People offices at 545 N. Alisal Road in Solvang.

Donations to make this a happier holiday season for valley families and especially children can include a gift, wrapping paper, or cash; placement of a donation box in a business; or volunteering time.