The Golden Interact Club is looking for sponsors for their Angel Tree program, looking to connect families in need with gifts and toys for their kids this holiday season.
Similar to the Giving Tree, which has been run in years past by other groups, this will be the first year the Interact Club will work on this program.
Interact club member William Cooper says is a great opportunity for the club.
“It’s a really exciting project for us,” said Cooper.
“We get to act as the middle ground between kids who might need presents and people in the community who want to help those kids.”
The Interact Club is accepting nominations and offers to sponsor via Facebook, with Cooper saying the club wants to branch out and find other ways of connecting with the community as well.
From there, the club will be providing a wish list of toys from the nominated families to the sponsors, who can go out and buy toys to be gifted during the holiday season.
Toys are the primary method of donation, with the club providing details like gender, age and recommendations to the sponsors, who will be doing the shopping.
Cooper says if there’s not enough sponsors, the Interact Club will step in and do some shopping themselves, but he doesn’t anticipate a shortage.
“We’ve seen year after year that the people of Golden want to give,” said Cooper.
“Especially during COVID. They may not have the capacity to help as much, but people still want and love to give back.”
Part of the reason why the club has been able to undertake this project is due to changes to its annual Anti-Grinch project, which provides dinners to families in need at Christmas.
This year, instead of providing the big family dinners, the club has scaled down to smaller individual dinners to feed more people in the community.
Traditionally, the club would also provide gifts for the families they help.
But in going with the individual dinner idea, club members saw an opportunity to take on the Angel Tree project as well.
Last weekend, the Interact Club held a fundraiser for their Anti-Grinch and Angel Tree programs, raising over $3,000 towards the cause with St. Paul’s Thrift Shop.
“We were just gobsmacked,” said Cooper.
“We appreciate the donations.”
Those looking to get involved can monitor the group’s Facebook page for updates.
