Ed. Note: The following is a news release from Single Mothers Outreach

After receiving generous assistance throughout the holiday season, Single Mothers Outreach would like to thank those who lent helping hand.

The holidays can be a very busy time and sometimes in that busyness we don’t know about the small acts of kindness shown to those who find the holidays to be particularly challenging.

We have been very fortunate to have benefitted from the generosity of volunteers and organizations this year and would like to share a few examples of the kindness extended to SMO and our families this holiday season.

We were recently contacted by a Girl Scout, Danielle Gardner (Girl Scout Troop 2492) who needed volunteer hours for her Girl Scout Gold Award.

Danielle helped us out by reorganizing our storage closet: she built attached shelving with a counter work area, she also put together a great childcare craft organizer with a bunch of crafts already prepared and ready to go, and she supplied us with a rolling cart.  She did a beautifully amazing job!

Danielle wrote to us saying: “The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award that Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts may earn. Earning the Gold Award requires a suggested 80 hours of planning and implementing a challenging large-scale project that is innovative, engages others, and has a lasting impact on its targeted community with an emphasis on sustainability.”

We would like to thank Danielle for her kind assistance and thinking of us!

We were also helped out recently by Camelot Movers who helped transport hundreds of presents for our Adopt-a-Family program supplied by Princess Cruises.

Camelot provided moving staff and transportation free of charge for us so that we could collect all the toys donated to our families and ensure they were delivered in time for Christmas.

Finally, we would like to give a warm and heartfelt thank you to the local Jaycees – JCI Santa Clarita who helped over 150 children have a holiday party they will never forget.

The Jaycees through their Santa’s Helpers campaign received toy and gift card donations to help children of our families receive Christmas presents.

In addition, families were invited to go ice skating, meet Santa Claus and his elves, eat pizza and cake, and enjoy face painting and craft activities.

We would like to thank the whole Jaycee team for their kind support. We would also like to thank everyone who dropped off toys and gift cards for our families; we ensured that every gift went to a family in need.

DaAnne Smith, Executive Director said, “We are thrilled that so many Santa Claritans donated toys and gifts cards this holiday season and were incredibly touched by all  who helped us. With individuals like Danielle, young professionals like the Jaycees, and companies like Camelot and Princess Cruises, we saw the community really come together to help make the season brighter for our families. It truly takes a village and we know all our families really appreciated the kindness and generosity shown to them.”