Spreading joy on Easter weekend
Palmdale Sheriff ’s Station donates 60 holiday baskets
PALMDALE — Over Easter weekend, local law enforcement from Palmdale Sheriff’s Station showed their generosity by giving back to the community they are sworn to protect.
Det. Soraya Ely, along with close friend Cari Pelayo of Cari4Homes Real Estate Agency, donated 60 Easter baskets to the station to be given out.
Ely said over 300 Easter baskets were made as part of a fundraiser for Kids Community Dental Clinic, a nonprofit organization based in Burbank. Their mission is to improve the oral health of children from low-income families with quality procedures, preventative treatments and oral health education
“It is great for the community, it’s great for kids,” she said. “You know there’s a lot of parents that can’t afford dental and I know for a fact that dentists are expensive.”
Ely said the money and proceeds from selling any of the Easter baskets were donated to the clinic.
Pelayo and Ely also donated over 100 of those Easter baskets to the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles on March 31.
“(Pelayo) used to work at the Children’s Hospital,” Ely said. “That’s why she’s involved a lot with the Children’s Hospital and I help her out as much as possible.”
They also donated another 60 Easter baskets to the Palmdale Station with the remaining baskets going to the clinic.
Deputies from the station handed out the donated Easter baskets to children while on patrol over the weekend.
“To me it means a lot to give to these children, especially the children of Palmdale in the low-income community knowing that some of these children
never had an Easter, Christmas or a birthday,” Ely said. “It warms my heart that I did something for a child in need.”
The baskets weren’t the only thing the Palmdale Station participated in over the weekend.
Deputies also attended a drive-thru Easter event on Saturday for foster children at Fostering UNITY, a nonprofit based out of Acton.
Calls were made regarding additional information for the drive-thru event to the station’s public information officers but were not returned by press time.