72425 Via Vail
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
760-321-0694
- This event has passed.
Christmas Toy & Food Box Drives
An event every day that begins at 12:00 AM, repeating until November 30, 2025
Coachella Valley Unified School District Migrant Education Christmas Party
Toy and Food Box Drives: November 7 – 30
Food Box Packing Party: December 6, 1 – 3 pm
Volunteers Serve Dinner at the Migrant Families’ Christmas Party: Cancelled due to the Federal Administration’s budget cuts.
Event Organizers: Jerry L’Hommedieu & Rob DuWors
This 24-day event offers participants many opportunities to practice generosity by giving of their talents and treasures.
This year, the Coachella Valley Unified School District Migrant Education Program will not be holding a Christmas Party for their students and families, due to the current administration’s budget cuts to their program. But, through your generous donations, we still plan to give them food boxes, filled with nutritious food, and Christmas toys.
There are over 1000 migrant children & youth in kindergarten through grade 12 within CVUSD and 100 in their After School Program. Please help our neighboring migrant families living in the East Valley have a more joyful Christmas by donating to our Toy and Food Box Drives.
Read on to find out how you can participate by giving monetary donations or volunteering for the Food Box Packing Party.
Each Food Box Will Be Filled With These Items
- Honey Bunches of Oats Cereal
- Creamy Peanut Butter
- Canola Oil
- All Purpose Flour
- Macaroni & Cheese
- Fruit Cocktail
- Tomato Sauce
- Albacore Tuna
- Chocolate Pudding Cups
- Applesauce
- Can of Sweet Potatoes
- Iodized Salt
- Dry Pinto Beans
- Box of Ritz Crackers
- Dry Rice
- Old Fashioned Oats
- Spaghetti Noodles
- Pasta Sauce
- Chicken Noodle Soup
- Nonfat Dry Milk
- Can of Sweet Corn
- Can of Mixed Vegetables
- Can of Sliced Carrots
- Can of Green Beans
- Can of Sliced Jalapeños
Donate
Toy Drive
Instead of purchasing toys and bringing them to UUCOD, we will again collect donations electronically. They will be converted into RaiseRight e-gift cards, which will be sent to the CVUSD Migrant Education Program. They will shop for the toys which the children will pick out at the Christmas Party. For most of them, if it wasn’t for our generosity, they would simply not receive anything at Christmas.
Click on the button below to donate electronically. Enter the amount of your donation on the Toy Drive line. You can pay by credit/debit card or have the funds withdrawn from your checking or savings account.
Food Box Drive
This is the fifth year that we are collecting Food Boxes. Each box costs $65, but if you cannot afford that amount, please give as much as you are able.
Click on the button below to donate electronically. Enter the amount of your donation on the Food Box Drive line. You can pay by credit/debit card or have the funds withdrawn from your checking or savings account.
Pay by Check: If you prefer to pay by check for either the Toy Drive or the Food Box Drive, it must be received by Tuesday, November 25. Checks arriving after this date will be used for next year’s toy drive.
Mail To:
UUCOD
P.O. Box 2853
Rancho Mirage, CA 92270
please write “Toy Drive Donation” or “Food Box Donation” on the Memo Line
Volunteer
Volunteer for the Food Box Packing Party
Here’s how the event is organized: Based on your generous giving, the organizers determine how many food boxes we can fill. They then order the food from Smart & Final.
On the day of the party, the drivers pick up the U-Haul truck and drive to Smart & Final. The boxes of individual food items are loaded into the truck and driven to the UCCOD parking lot. As the truck arrives the packers and movers spring into action. They create a line of tables stretching to the open doors of the truck. Others start unloading the boxes of food items from the truck. Then the assembly line begins!
Empty food boxes are stacked at the beginning of the line. Packers line the tables with the items they will place in each box. Each packer places their items in the food box that comes to them then passes the box onto the next person in line. At the end of the line the food boxes are stacked in the truck. When the truck is completely filled, it departs for the school in Thermal, CA.
Volunteers Needed
- Organizers to take direction on setting up the assembly line.
- Movers to unload the food items from the truck, supply the assembly line with items and load the completely filled boxes back into the truck. Requires the ability to lift heavy items.
- Packers to fill the food boxes with items as the boxes move down the assembly line from person to person. No heavy lifting required. We need lots of packers,
- Cheerleader to set the scene for fun by providing music from their phone through bluetooth speakers.
Volunteer to Serve Dinner at the Migrant Family Christmas Party
Unfortunately, this event is cancelled due to federal budget cuts.
If plans change,we will let you know.
Generosity.
We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope.
We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.