Dozens of gaily wrapped gifts provided by Rotary Club of Sedona Red Rocks brightened this holiday season for some less fortunate Verde Valley residents.
This is the tenth year that Red Rocks Rotary has sponsored its Holiday Wish List project. Since 2016, it has worked in partnership with the Sedona Chapter of Toys for Tots which provides two toys and a book for each child in the program as well as a stuffed toy for the younger kids.
Red Rocks Rotary fulfilled holiday wishes for four families comprised of seven adults and eleven children ranging in age from one to fourteen years. Additionally, two senior women are included in the program and nine senior men received gifts from the club through the Caring Angels organization.
Potential recipients are nominated by local organizations. Once approved for participation in the project, the recipients are asked to provide lists of items that the club could furnish. Requested items this year included beekeeping apparel, hiking and camping gear, kitty litter, clothes, toys, books, art supplies and household goods. Transportation to Phoenix to visit an ill family member was another wish. In addition to the wish list items, each family and the two senior women each received a Walmart gift card.
Red Rocks’ club president Kathryn Stillman along with fellow Rotarians Denise Dedrick and Donna Hawk donned their elf caps to complete the shopping. Other club members joined in to wrap, tag and arrange delivery of the gifts.
Holiday Wish List is supported by the club’s fund-raising efforts. With its Red Rocks Oktoberfest event cancelled due to COVID for the second straight year, the budget for all of the club’s projects has been reduced by twenty-five percent for the 2021-22 fiscal year. To make 2021 Holiday Wish List successful, club members personally donated more than $1,400 toward the gifting.
According to club treasurer Donna Hawk, “the thirty-one members of Red Rocks Rotary are honored that the Wish List recipients allow them the opportunity to add a bit of cheer to this season of giving. The project truly exemplifies Rotary’s motto of Service Above Self. And, we are especially grateful for the generous contribution from Toys for Tots.”