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Samaritan House Holiday Program Fact Sheet
What is the Holiday Program? Through the Holiday Program, Samaritan House provides thousands of clients with non-perishable food and grocery store gift certificates in November (right before Thanksgiving) and again in December (right before Christmas). Larger families typically receive a turkey or chicken in addition to non-perishable food. In December, we also provide toys and gifts to children and teens between the ages of 0 – 16.
Who receives assistance through the Holiday Program? The Holiday Program is open to all current Samaritan House clients. To receive holiday assistance, clients must register for the program by contacting the Holiday Program Registrar located in Client Services at (650) 523-0814.
How do clients receive holiday assistance? There are four ways in which a client may receive holiday assistance:
- Direct Distribution: Most clients receive direct distribution at a pre-arranged time. For food, they come to food distribution sites located in the community. For toys and gifts, they come to our Holiday Toy Shoppe at 1515 S. Claremont St., San Mateo.
- Delivery: Clients may qualify to have their holiday items delivered to their homes. Clients who qualify for delivery are most often seniors, disabled people, single moms, or people who lack transportation.
- Family Sharing Program: Some client families and seniors are “adopted” through the Family Sharing Program (FSP). This means that in December they are matched with a donor who provides all of their holiday food and gifts. There are extra requirements for families wishing to participate in the FSP: they must have young children in their family and they must have a working phone line.
- Adopt-A-Senior Program is a holiday food and gift program created as a way to brighten the lives of lonely and financially-challenged seniors, and bring the joy of the holiday season into the lives of older adults in our community.
Where does Samaritan House get all the food and toys? Numerous businesses, schools, and community organizations help gather donations for the Holiday Program. The fire department’s Toys for Tots program directly benefits Samaritan House as do San Mateo High School’s Guinness Book record-breaking Food Drives. Smaller-scale food and toy drives take place all over the Peninsula and add up to a lot of food and toys! Additionally, Second Harvest Food Bank allots extra food to Samaritan House during the holidays.
How does the community get involved? There are many ways for community members to help out during the holiday season. We need several hundred volunteers to sort and pack food and toys throughout November and December, as well as volunteers to deliver food and toys to clients’ homes. There are special volunteer days set aside just for families with young children and for youth service groups, such as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Special projects, such as food and toy drives, “Giving Trees,” and donation-collection parties, are just a few examples of other ways people can help.
Here are some handy facts and figures about the Holiday Program:
- Each year, the program reaches nearly 5,000 low-income community members, over half of whom are children.
- We distribute tens of thousands of pounds of non-perishable food each holiday season.
- In 2010 we distributed more than 2,000 toys and gifts to children.
- More than 1,000 volunteers help distribute food and toys during November and December.
For more Holiday Program information, please visit our Holiday Assistance Program page or call one of the following:
- For Holiday Program volunteering, call the Holiday Program Coordinator at (650) 523-0831.
- For Holiday Program registration, call the Holiday Program Registrar at (650) 523-0814.
- For Holiday Program food and toy drives, call Food & Toy Drives Coordinator at (650) 523-0833.
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Holiday Press Releases
Upcoming events in San Mateo County
through the Samaritan House Holiday Program.
December 16, 2011
(Click here to read press release.)
December Food Distributions Assist
San Mateo Community Members in Need.
December 8, 2011
(Click here to read press release.)
Thanksgiving for Those in Need will Serve Both Food and Fun. Increased Demand for Food and Basic Services Reflects Tough Economy.
November 22, 2011
(Click here to read press release.)
Golden Gate Harley Owners Group/Ladies of Harley Riders to Escort Thanksgiving Food Donation from South San Francisco
to San Mateo
November 15, 2011
(Click here to read press release.)
Thanksgiving Turkeys on Tow Trucks:
AAA to deliver turkeys to Samaritan House.
November 9, 2011
(Click here to read press release.)
Recent Holiday Press Clips
Samaritan House featured on United Way Bar Area blog for Target holiday sponsorship
(Click here to read the article.)
Foster City Rotary collects 49 full bags
of items for "One Warm Coat" drive
for Samaritan House
The Lagonian, December 6, 2011
(Click here to read the article.)
San Mateo High School Canned Food Drive
Benefits Samaritan House/Second Harvest
San Mateo Daily Journal, November 29, 2011
(Click here to read the article.)
Harley Riders Begin Holiday Season
With Food Drive
So. San Francisco Patch, November 20, 2011
(Click here to read the article.)
Help for the Holidays
San Mateo Daily Journal, November 19, 2011
(Click here to read the article.)
Time to Think About Others
San Mateo Daily Journal, November 12, 2011
(Click here to read the article.)
That's My Thanksgiving and I Love It
Burlingame Patch, November 10, 2011
(Click here to read the article.)
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