Help Homeless Families This Holiday, Thanks To OC Rescue Mission

ORANGE COUNTY, CA — It is the season of giving, and while you're busy buying that perfect present for your loved ones, pause to reflect what it means to give something to someone you love. That feeling of giving is what the Orange County Rescue Mission wants to provide for children in their transitional housing program this year.

Each child will be able to shop for and wrap a unique gift that they can give to their parents.

This gesture has created an urgent need for adult appropriate gift donations, which the children will give to their parents. The Orange County Rescue Mission is gathering gift donations for the 179 formerly homeless adults living at Village of Hope, and other Rescue Mission transitional housing campuses celebrate the holidays this year.

"The holidays are a special and heartwarming time for the families living at Village of Hope and our other campuses," says Orange County Rescue Mission President, Jim Palmer. "For many of the children, this gift donation and exchange will be the very first time they will experience the joy of selecting and giving holiday gifts to their parents."

Suggested donation items needed include new:

• Slippers
• Robes
• Socks
• Wallets
• Watches
• Jewelry
• Nail Polish Sets
• Eyeshadow Pallets
• Journals and Pens
• Hair accessories
• Reusable Water Bottles
• Scarves
• Belts
• Wrapping Paper

Donations of these items may be dropped off at Orange County Rescue Mission's Village of Hope, located at 1 Hope Drive in Tustin, California, between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Sunday. Contact Julia at 714-247-4388 or email julia.ostunio@rescuemission.org for more information.

Members of the community may also contribute to a specific cause in someone's honor and designate it as a holiday gift by using the Rescue Mission's Gifts of Hope Christmas catalog.

Gift values in the catalog range from $8.00 to $450.00 and provide funding for a variety of services and programs offered at the Village of Hope, including lifesaving holiday meals and Christmas gifts for children, among others.

"Each holiday season, we are humbled by the generosity and support of the local community," says Palmer. "In the true spirit of giving and to express our gratitude, we want to provide community members with the opportunity to give back specifically to the causes that touch their hearts by gifting their donations."