The Sacramento Gifts From The Heart Program – How I Pay It Forward During The Holiday Season

Welp, it’s official folks!  The holidays are officially on their way.  Before you know it the tree will be up, the presents will need to be wrapped and cookies for Santa put out. But, before that big crazy rush of preparations begins, I wanted to tell you guys about one of my very favorite traditions that my family and I participate in each holiday season.

Now, before I go any further, I want to point out that this post is in NO WAY sponsored, endorsed, etc.  I just truly love this program and all that it does for our community and I think it’s something that could really use everyone’s support.

It’s called The Sacramento Gifts From The Heart Program. and it is by far my favorite charity to work with during the holiday season.  Each year this annual holiday gift giving program provides holiday gifts to children, teens, seniors and dependent adults served within the Sacramento County Child Protective Services, Senior & Adult Services Divisions, and the Public Guardian/Conservator office in the Department of Health & Human Services.

Each season 90+ community organizations and private sponsors donate more than 13,000 gifts to thousands of clients who would otherwise be without holiday gifts or celebration; department staff, along with volunteers, then manage the pick-up, distribution, and delivery of the gifts from our community to the recipients during the months of November and December each year.

Here is how GFTH works:

1. Social Workers request gifts on behalf of children, youth and seniors from their case files.
2. The requests are distributed to partner organizations whose members sign up to fill the gift requests.
3. New gifts are purchased and wrapped by members of the partner organizations.
4. The wrapped gifts are returned to our Social Workers who deliver them to the children, youth, dependent adults and seniors they serve.

And here’s why I personally like this program so much:

1. 100% of all monetary and gift donations are dispersed to the children, teens, seniors and dependent adults served within the Sacramento County Child Protective Services, Senior & Adult Services Divisions, and the Public Guardian/Conservator office in the Department of Health & Human Services.
2. The contributions are going directly into our local community.
3. You couldn’t meet a nicer group of people who are as committed to lifting up those who need it most.

I can honestly say I have never felt more than overwhelming kindness and joy from the GFTH people – and they work SO HARD!  They spend months coordinating all of the recipients, donors, donations and more and then they have to turn around and organize all of the distribution, logistics and more.  But you can always tell it is a truly a labor of love 🙂  On top of that, they provide hope and joy to people who lives are filled with turmoil and uncertainty; these small gifts truly have the ability to bring so much joy and happiness to those who need it most.  It is extremely important work, and I am proud to be a sponsor each year!

After we’ve made our donations each holiday season, the program sends along the many Thank You notes received by their gift recipients.  They are always so touching to read and completely reinforce how important this program is to those who are the recipients of its kindness.  Here are a few of the letters we received last year:

I am so grateful for your kind consideration and the gifts were lovely and I was very happy to get them.  Thank you to the nice gentleman that took the time to deliver those gifts and made this old lady very happy and moved to tears.

Thank you again and God bless you for the kind of work you are doing.

I’m writing to say thank you for your kind, generous, and thoughtful gift.  I am really touched that you thought of me.  I plan to use the bike and bike’s supplies, helmet and rain coat to ride to school.  I also needed a backpack because I have been using mine for 2 years and it’s not good any more but I feel as you know what I need and this backpack is perfect.  I live about 5 miles away from my high school and I have been walking to school every day but now I can sleep longer because with the bike I can make it to school in about 15-20 minutes.  I feel very privileged that you selected me and give me a bike of my dream.  When I will have job I will help other teens too.  You made me sooo happy.  I have always wanted to buy a real watch and your gift card will go a long way to helping me do that shortly.

Once again, many thanks for the best gift of my life.  Best wishes and Happy Christmas to your family.

Reading these notes really put into perspective how a little kindness can go a long way!

The needs of each recipient can vary greatly, so GFTH has set up a few ways for community partners to meet those needs.  Here are a couple of ways you can participate:

Be a gift sponsor:

Being a gift sponsor means you’ll be assigned a recipient for whom you will shop.  You can request to sponsor one or many, and can choose from Children/Teens, Seniors and Dependent/Disabled Adults.  After turning in your form, you’ll be notified of the recipient who you have been assigned and their wish list by November 11th, which gives you plenty of time to do your shopping. Included in your assignment will also be instructions on how to wrap and deliver your gifts (or schedule a pickup).

This is the option I choose each year and I’ve always found it so nice to know that the person receiving the gifts will be getting exactly what they need.  If you’d like to participate in this option as well you can download this form HERE, fill it out and email it to Tammy, the program coordinator at LiuT@saccounty.net.

Donate Unwrapped Toys and Gifts:

This is also another option I always participate in.  Inevitably I end up with an abundance of toys to donate each year because I go overboard at the toy clearance sales during the year, and this is the perfect reason to pass along those good deals.  Keep in mind that with teenagers being on the list, this is also a great place to donate any new makeup you’ve got in your stockpile for the girls, as well as any body spray (Axe, Old Spice, etc.) products for the boys.  Lotions and candles are also big requests.  I know we all have these items in our stockpile, so why not share the love!

Monetary Donations:

Cash donations will be deposited into the “Gifts From the Heart” reserve account for the sole purpose of purchasing gifts. All gifts and monetary donations are tax deductible.  You can mail in your donation using this form HERE to:

Sacramento County, DHHS
Attn: Gifts From The Heart Program
7001-A East Parkway, Suite 1000
Sacramento, CA 95823

Any and all ways you decide to participate in this program are SO appreciated and important – a little kindness can really go a long way, especially in the holiday season.