STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
The last time members of the Sun Valley Board of Realtors stuffed Holiday Gift Bags for families in need they had requests for help from 225 families, sending them on a $20,000 shopping spree at Target in Twin Falls.
Fast forward from 2019 to 2022--this year the Sun Valley Realtors Give Foundation is helping 384 families.
Or, 1,820 adults and children, all told, according to Cathy Nikolaisons, the fund’s executive director.
After a couple years hiatus due to the pandemic, real estate agents were back in action this week stuffing bags with toys, books, mittens, socks, toothbrushes and gift certificates for groceries. They will give the bags out today and Saturday at the Community Campus in Hailey.
“Always Barbies, Legos, cars and balls,” said Sun Valley Realtors President Sheila Lierman listing the most requested toys.
Realtors had an assembly line going as each picked up a red Holiday Basket cloth bag with the Sun Valley Realtors Give logo, then a Recipient Gift Sheet detailing the size of the family, age and sex of the kids and what toys the kids had requested.
The first stop was The Toy Room, filled with stuffed animals, puzzles, games, blocks and more. Next up: The Gift Room where they selected a book for each child, a toothbrush, gloves, socks and one pot holder per family.
The Check Out Room was where $100 Food Gift Certificates for a family of four redeemable at Atkinsons’ Markets were added.
“During the pandemic we couldn’t gather to stuff baskets so we gave gift cards. We decided to do that again for the food, rather than purchase turkeys and other food items. The gift certificates mean the families can choose what they want for their holiday meal. And Atkinsons gave us an 18 percent discount, which is huge,” said Nikolaisons.
The Realtors leaned on The Hunger Coalition, The Advocates, The Senior Connection, St. Luke’s and the school district for help identifying families in need.
“Since so many are homeless right now, they can’t show us a utility bill to prove they live here so these organizations vouched for them,” said Nikolaisons.
They leaned on others for help with the rest. In addition to the Realtors chipping in, dentists donated toothbrushes, Webb Landscaping decorated the halls with Christmas trees, Chapter One Bookstore offered a 15 percent discount on books and The Over 60 and Getting Fit class filled several large boxes with toys.
The Toy Run donated $15,000 on top of the toys they collected during their annual motorcycle ride in September.
“A few of the members of the Toy Run said they had been recipients of the Holiday Baskets when they were young so that shows how long this has been going,” said Nikolaisons.
Families needing coats will be directed to the Kiwanis Club, which conducts a coat drive every year. Members of the 5 Bee Quilt Guild made nearly 400 potholders under the leadership of Ginger Harris.
“This is the third year we’ve done this,” said member Jane Ulrich. “It’s something to do with all the scraps we accumulate. Now, we’re embarking on making queen-sized quilts for the Men’s Second Chance Living facilities.”