Holiday season will be bright for area families

Holiday giving is taking a step forward already this year.

Turkeys, pies and fruit baskets were delivered Tuesday to the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Nevada, FISH and Advocates to End Domestic Violence.

John Anderson Construction, of Carson City, delivered 105 turkeys and pies to the club headquarters on Stewart Street to be distributed to area residents in need.

"We've been in business for six years, and Carson City has been good to us," Anderson said. "We are giving away a turkey for every project we've completed over the years."

Mark Jacoby, assistant executive director for the Boys & Girls Club, called it a great donation.

"The $15 they're going to save on a turkey, they could buy something for the kids or the house," Jacoby said.

Children from the Boys & Girls Club did their part by baking pies at the Community Center for families served by Advocates to End Domestic Violence. The children baked 20 pies.

At the Carson City School District, Kim Riggs, coordinator for the Children in Transition program, said the community responded well to the idea of donating fruit baskets.

"The fresh fruit is something that you wouldn't see in some of these homes otherwise," she said. "This program's for all the kids who qualify in the Children in Transition program. It's not a duplication in my opinion when we are only providing fresh fruit."

Each basket has two or three pieces of each fruit, is tied up in cellophane, and delivered, Riggs said. This year the group collected tangerines, four varieties of apples, and bananas.

Fruit was donated by Albertson's, Safeway, SuperKmart, Raley's, and Scolari's. Floral Supply donated baskets.

There were 90 baskets the first year, 110 the second year, and this year the group plans to distribute 150 baskets.

"I think between FISH, Salvation Army, and Girls & Boys Club we'll hit everyone," Riggs said.

Salvation Army Corps Officer Lisa VanCleef said that the Salvation Army collected 241 turkeys last week and turned them over to other agencies for distribution to needy families.

In addition, food baskets were prepared for specific individual families and they too have been handed out, she said.