Willits Christmas Program: the same but different
All good things must come to an end… but the Willits Christmas Program is not going to end anytime soon. Although Laura Sleeper is “passing the baton” next year, she is training a new team of organizers this holiday season, so that the program continues to serve local children for years to come.
Marcy Barry and Alexis Rutherford England will be joining forces and organizing troops of volunteers to make Christmas bright next year.
Barry said she and her daughter Danielle have been volunteering with the program for the last six years.
Sleeper praised the duo and said, “I seriously could not have done what we did without her and her daughter.” Danielle is also a member of the Willits Frontier Days Juniors, have raised funds and donated stockings to the programs for the last three years. “They fundraiser through the year, buy all their own supplies and do all the stuffing themselves! They just thought every kid should have a stocking on Christmas so they made it happen. Truly the spirit of the season!” said Sleeper.
The Willits Christmas Program has changed hands over the years, but one thing remains the same — the community comes together to make sure local children and their families have a very merry Christmas.
The Program is sponsored by the Willits Rotary and Willits Wild Bunch, and has been partially funded by a grant for the past two years. Sleeper said they didn’t get the grant this year, but the community has been generous.
Due to the current pandemic, Sleeper said her team set up giving trees earlier than usual and in fewer locations. The goal, she said, was to allow people to choose gift tags off the trees safely in a more open area, and to give people more time to purchase gifts. “In a normal year, we come in contact with more than 1,000 people.” Another difference the Christmas Program team implemented this year is “preshopping” for the tags.
Sleeper said they made every attempt to fill what requests they could ahead of time and only put out tags that they hadn’t been able to fill. Since many people are avoiding unnecessary shopping trips, and Sleeper and her team want to help minimize the crowds in stores, she said monetary donations are always welcome. Donations of any kind can be dropped off during business hours at the Willits Unified School District office on Blosser Lane, or mailed to Rotary Christmas, P.O. Box 787, Willits, CA 95490.
Tree tag gifts that are being provided by residents should be dropped off (unwrapped) in the donation bins at Les Schwab, JD Redhouse and the WUSD office by Dec. 15. Any gifts that are not delivered by then, will be purchased by program organizers. The Willits Christmas Program serves between 200-300 children and their families each year.
For more information, call Sleeper at (707) 3541991 or email willitstoyprogram@gmail.com. Look for updates on the new Willits Christmas Program Facebook page.