With your help, our families in need can still have a bright and wonderful Holiday season- this is the message that Mayor Frank Navarro and City of Colton Community Services Department delivered to several different community organizations and local businesses asking those who can, to help bring holiday joy to our community.
As the Holiday season quickly approached, and in order to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from stopping the City to ensure its families, especially those families with financial hardships, will have meals the Mayor and Colton Community Services Department reached out to local organizations and businesses and asked them to help donate to the Annual Thanksgiving Dinner and Holiday Help programs.
One of the organizations to answer back was the Royal Gents Association, a community services organization that has been in the community since 1965. The Royal Gents Association is an active part of the community in Colton and does a lot of work for the children in the city. Every year the group works closely with and personally donates to the Colton Joint Unified School District to ensure families and children in-need has thanksgiving meals. This year, for health and safety measures, the group was unable to personally go to any schools to donate the boxes of food; however, they did not let this stop them from giving back.
The City Liaison of the group, Cynthia Rosales noted that due to the new health and safety protocols set because of the pandemic, the group was unable to fundraise for this year’s thanksgiving dinner donation.
“We put donations from our own pockets,” Rosales said. The group also asked members of their friends and families to help with the donation and by November 5, the group raised $665, which would provide at least 12 Thanksgiving boxes.
The donation will go towards the Thanksgiving-In-A-Box and Holiday Help programs in the City of Colton. The Thanksgiving-In-A-Box is to provide Colton families in-need an uncooked Thanksgiving dinner to go. The Holiday Help program will provide families in-need with children under the age of 18 holiday gift cards. Applications for the Holiday Help program will be accepted until December 4. For more information about applying, please visit www.coltonca.gov.
“We’re missing doing things this holiday season, the Christmas parade, the thanksgiving baskets, just anything we can get involved in,” said Royal Gents Chairman, Edward Galindo.
As much as the Royal Gents missed personally donating and fundraising for our community this holiday season, Mayor Navarro assured them, that their donation is still paramount in helping those in-need.
“You’re efforts are not going unnoticed,” said Mayor Navarro.
“To the Royal Gents, who have been in the community for a long time, I myself as the Mayor, members of my city council, Deb and the rest of the staff, thank you for your donation. It’s going to bring some smiles to some families here in Colton, we appreciate you, we love and God bless you guys.”
After the Royal Gents presented the donation check to Mayor Navarro, the Director of the Colton Community Services Department reiterated the value and importance that their donation will have during this upcoming holiday season.
“Thank you for stepping up; our Thanksgiving and our Holiday Help cannot happen without donners like yourself in the community,” said Deb Farrar, City of Colton Community Services Department Director.
If you or your organization would like to give back to the community and bring even more cheer and joy for the upcoming holidays, please contact the City of Colton Community Services Department.
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