Rotary Brings Smiles to Children's Faces
Last updated 12/22/2024 at 10:32am
Borrego Springs Rotary gave away hundreds of gifts to local children during their annual Holiday Gift Drive – Through at the Resource Center.
Cars began lining up an hour beforehand to receive a bag of gifts for all the children in the family. As high school Rotary Interact students and Miss Borrego and her Court helped pack and hand out the bags, cars full of excited children smiled from inside.
Every year Rotary works with the Borrego Springs Unified School District to ensure that enough gifts are purchased for every child in the school district as well as toddlers not yet enrolled in school. They also try to include extra gifts for home-schooled children.
This year, Rotarian Diane Johnson wrote and obtained a Rotary Grant to cover some of the costs for the gifts. Other funds came from the Borrego Springs Rotary Foundation as well as local donations. Rotarians Corie Jaramillo, Karen Hildebrandt and Sylvana Meeks pulled a late nighter on Black Friday ordering hundreds of gifts.
Rotary's motto of "Service Above Self" was on display that evening in full force. Grateful families expressed their appreciation. One single mother of 4 shared how this Christmas was going to be especially difficult with needed car repairs and a refrigerator on the blink. Rotary was happy to be able to lighten the season for her and her children.
Happy Holidays!
