Community Comes Together To Help Others

We can do amazing things when we come together.

This year’s Jammie Drive, our fifth annual, was a raging success.

I started the drive five years ago to help my children experience the true spirit of the holidays, while providing core essentials to those in need at an emotionally charged time of year. It’s amazing to see how this idea has grown in reach and impact, beyond my wildest dreams.

In fact, this was our largest turnout ever: our community was able to gift 200 people with jammies and slippers, packages of underwear, socks and other essentials, as well as donate more than $1400 in financial donations to Building Futures for Women and Children to support their East Bay domestic violence and homeless shelter residents across four facilities.

Building Futures considers our drive one of their most significant for this time of year, as many people provide toys to their organization but there is a shortage of basic supplies most of us take for granted. Shelter residents include moms on their own and those with up to three children ranging in the age from six months to teenagers.

We appreciate seeing the familiar faces of those who return each year as part of their family tradition to celebrate the holidays. It was also exciting to see many new participants joining us for the first time.

This year we also welcomed Mayor Trish Spencer to our donor party, who proclaimed December 6th, 2017 to be Jammie Day in Alameda.

One of the most satisfying aspects of this drive is how it has grown to a point where the community owns it. My company sponsors the drive and donor party, and it delights me how a core group of giving people have put their own twist on it, bringing their creativity, connections, and energy to make the drive, and donor event, an amazing experience for all. It is wonderful to see the collective power of a community coming together, and I am excited about where this powerful drive will go in the future.

It takes a village to make the drive and party a success. A special thank you to this year’s partners:

• Professional illusionist and circus entertainer Calvin Kai Ku of the Medical Clown Project
• The Barefoot Quales bluegrass band for the foot-stompin’ tunes
• Lainie Acacio’s Gather and Grub catering
• Alameda Arts, Kate & Hazel for the craft table
• Feel Good Bakery’s yummy bread
• Off Leash Studio’s, Erinn Larsen who led the kids in making “warm fuzzies” for shelter residents
• Trader Joe’s of Alameda’s food donations
• Safeway of Bay Farm’s food donations
• Community of Harbor Bay Isle for letting us use their party room
• Girl Scouts Troop 33923 for making the decorations, writing thank you notes, and helping with the party
• Nancy Rothstein photography for the wonderful photos
• Kimberlee MacVicar and Lynn Landry – coordinators extraordinaire – this event would not happen without these two amazing women!

What a gift to be able to celebrate together and make a difference in peoples’ lives in this way.

For more information about this year’s drive, check out this wonderful article by Sarah Tan in the Alameda Journal or visit our Jammie Drive FAQ page. You can sign up there to receive the early notification for next year’s event. Planning is already underway!

Never underestimate the power of neighbors and community!