'Giving Tree': Help Your Peninsula Neighbors This Holiday Season

From San Mateo Samaritan House:San Mateo’s Samaritan House is poised to serve more than 2,500 children and 800 adults over the holidays through this year’s Giving Tree and Holiday Toy Shop at Hillsdale Shopping Center. Donations will be accepted from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. on November 24, 25, 26 and December 2, 3, 9, and 10 at Hillsdale’s Nordstrom Court, 60 31st Ave.

Community members are invited to participate by visiting the Giving Tree booth, where they will receive a gift tag labeled with the toy or gift a Samaritan House recipient has requested. Shoppers can purchase and later drop off their gifts to be featured at the Holiday Toy Shop.

The program has previously met with much success at Hillsdale. In 2016, the Giving Tree and Holiday Toy Shop received more than $4,000 in donations from Hillsdale donors, including a spontaneous $1,000 check from one generous donor in recognition of Ruby Kaho, Samaritan House’s longtime kitchen manager.

“Hillsdale Shopping Center is proud to support Samaritan House by hosting its Giving Tree and Holiday Shop,” said Christine Kupczak, Marketing Director of Hillsdale Shopping Center. “Our customers are some of the most generous in the region and we can’t wait to see more families benefit this year.”

Carol Laughlin, Director of Volunteers at Samaritan House is excited to continue their work in San Mateo and said of Hillsdale, “They have been a great neighbor and exemplify our ‘Neighbor helping Neighbor’ philosophy with their generosity to the Samaritan House community of families.”

This year, the program aims to collect 200 new coats for kids, 100 gifts for seniors and parents and $2,000 in mall gift cards, with a special emphasis on presents for older recipients.

“Many husbands and wives, shop at the holiday gift shop for something to give to their spouse at the holidays because they cannot afford to purchase a gift,” said Laughlin. “We hope to have enough gifts for each adult to pick something special for themselves, or their loved one.”

For more information about the Giving Tree and Holiday Toy Shop, please visit the Samaritan House’s website atwww.samaritanhousesanmateo.org. Or, visit www.hillsdale.com for more about the shopping center’s special events and extended holiday hours.

Image Courtesy of Samaritan House