Sue Coltman’s garage was looking a little like Santa’s Workshop. Coltman is the President of the Sunflower club who coordinated the effort to make sure that every child under 18 serviced by the Graton Food Pantry would receive a Christmas Stocking this year.
Coltman said, “I wanted to make sure we collected enough Christmas stockings for all the children who may not be receiving other gifts for this holiday season. Through the help of generous residents, we were able to fill 200 unique stockings.”
The Garden Club has a tradition of donating stockings for the holiday. Three years ago, Marcia Myers coordinated efforts to donate 50 over-sized designer stockings that were filled by Garden Club Members and Buddy Groups. Last year the club coordinated efforts to donate 150 hand-crafted Christmas stockings.
This year Coltman wanted to have a goal that every child served by the pantry received their own stocking.
Harriet Ford, on the Board of Directors for Grafton Food Pantry, said, “We are so excited to receive this donation of Christmas stockings from the Sunflower Garden Club. In this very challenging time, it is comforting to know that so many sunflower Garden Club members and their neighbors cared enough to take the time to personalize stockings. There are items for all ages and many of them even contain a small gift card. How wonderful it is to imagine the joy on the children’s faces when they open their stockings to discover all the goodies inside.”
Coltman said, “Even though in 2020, our Club has not had the opportunity to conduct our usual events and activities, we thought it was important to continue to give back to the community.”
The Sunflower Garden Club also donated ten holiday dinners. Each $30 donation provides a holiday dinner for a family of eight.
Grafton Food Pantry is open for anyone in need.
Ford said, “My hope is that someone who may read this article who needs help or knows of someone who needs help will reach out to us.”
The phone number to the Grafton Food Pantry is 847-495-0922.
