Photo by Catherine Stachowiak
The chamber hosts the Santa-to-a-Senior Giving Tree, each year, at its office. And the Ridgecrest Area Association of Realtors (RAAR), which is the primary MLS and realtors association for the Kern River Valley, Indian Wells Valley, and Ridgecrest, coordinated a gift giving drive this year.
According to Donna Hocker, executive of the RAAR, there were about 50 gift packages to be delivered on Friday, December 20. That was the day chamber administrator Liz Mendia invited the Kern Valley Sun to come view the gifts collected, at the Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce (KRVCC) office, in Lake Isabella. And representatives from the Skilled Nursing Facility, of the Kern Valley Hospital, came to pick up the packages, that morning for delivery.
Hocker told the Kern Valley Sun, “Our Association in Ridgecrest has been doing this for several years. So when the realtors from Kern River Valley joined us, it was something that we all wanted to do together. So this is our third year doing it. So it’s great. It’s been good.”
On the chamber’s Facebook post, Hocker expressed thanks, to those who participated in this year’s annual Santa-to-a-Senior Giving Tree.
The 50 gift packages assembled by donors, under the chamber’s Christmas tree, were then delivered to residents of Kern Valley Health Care District’s Skilled Nursing Facility.
The drive for the gifts ran from November 19 to December 18, with gifts ranging from slippers and scarves to gloves and blankets.
This was the community’s way of reaching out, with love to the lonely, isolated, and financially challenged.
