This past Saturday, Nov. 20 people may have seen Santa Claus at Save Mart Supermarket in Riverbank, preparing for the upcoming Christmas holiday along with the US Marine Corp Reserve Toys for Tots, CASA del Rio, and CVCR (Central Valley Community Resources) collecting toys for those in need.
They will be collecting new unwrapped toys through Thursday, Dec.16 at several locations throughout Riverbank such as Riverbank Unified School District, Save Mart, CASA del Rio, Envy, Farmer Boys, Glam, City Hall North, Get Toasted, Riverbank Library, Perez Farmers Insurance, TSW Financial, Mesquite Restaurant and Riverbank Police Services.
Monetary donations are also accepted with checks payable to Toys for Tots Riverbank or CVCR.
The 52nd Annual Craft Faire and Christmas Parade in downtown Riverbank are set for Saturday, Nov. 27 and the Marines plan to participate in the parade and will be accepting toy donations that day as well. The craft fair will begin at noon, and the parade is slated to begin around 5:30 p.m. The tree lighting will commence after the parade, at Plaza del Rio Park.
This past Saturday Master Gunnery Sergeant, ret., Ray Bael and his wife Edith; Marine Dennis Smees; Leslie Kaczmart, Army; Mike Farley, Navy; Santa’s helper Gabriel Key, a member of Riverbank Troop 1100; Santa Claus himself; and District 4 Councilmember Darlene Barber-Martinez and CEO of CVCR, were on hand to receive the steady flow of toy donations. The day was a success as they received 52 toys and three large bags of donations as well as monetary donations.
Children that stopped by had the opportunity to tell Santa what they want for Christmas and take a picture with him.
The toys collected will be distributed on Saturday, Dec. 18 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for families in need that registered in advance and reside in Riverbank.
Barber-Martinez has been participating in the Toys for Tots program for several years, noting that no child should go without a present for Christmas.