For the next week and a half, Ocean Beach residents can experience the season of giving by donating to the 31st annual Ocean Beach Food and Toy Drive. The drive \u2014 put on by the Ocean Beach Town Council\u2019s Tree Committee \u2014 began Nov. 23 and runs through Monday, Dec. 13. “It\u2019s all about giving back,” said Claudia Jack, who heads up the event. “People don\u2019t realize that you don\u2019t have to always receive. It\u2019s all about adopting and helping another individual.” Jack said the significance of donating an unwrapped toy or food item is greater this holiday season because of the current economic climate. Last year, the drive provided food for 55 local families, nine local seniors and 12 women living in a local domestic-violence house. “It could be somebody out of a job, somebody just having hardship, somebody that has had an operation and can\u2019t work anymore. It could be a layoff,” Jack said. “We just adopt families and people in need in Ocean Beach.” The food and toy drive helps locals in need through the help of 10 community partners. In addition, any necessary purchases are made locally. “It\u2019s very rewarding to be able to adopt a family or a senior in our local community,” Jack said. “The whole thing is done local.” After donating, locals can share their time by helping sort goods and wrap packages on Monday, Dec. 13 at Point Loma United Methodist Church, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. The assembling will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. “All they have to do is come that night and they can help sort and wrap. We do the whole bit,” Jack said. Once assembled, the food and gift packages will be distributed to local families and neighbors beginning Saturday, Dec. 18 \u2014 another avenue where locals can help. Jack said local schools, churches and individuals identify the persons in need in advance and the recipients\u2019 names are kept confidential. “We basically give them enough food for a week\u2019s worth of meals,” Jack said. “It\u2019s not just a dinner. We give them household goods and toys, too.” Jack has been working with the food and toy drive for the last 18 years. Jack said she would much rather receive a donation these days than a gift under the tree. “I\u2019m a little older and I have everything I need,” Jack said. “People ask me what I want for Christmas and I tell them 10 cans of corn for the food and toy drive. It\u2019s all about giving back. It\u2019s not all about receiving.” For more information, call (619) 515-4400 or visit www.obtowncouncil.org. OB FOOD\/TOY DRIVE BOX LOCATIONS<\/b>
Donations accepted through Monday, Dec. 13<\/b> \u2022 Ocean Beach Elementary School, 4741 Santa Monica Ave. \u2022 Ocean Beach Farmers Market music area, Newport Avenue, Wednesdays 4 to 7 p.m. \u2022 Pruitt Realty, 1845 Sunset Cliffs Blvd. \u2022 Remember to Breathe Health Center, 3653 Voltaire St. \u2022 Rowland Realty, 4725 Voltaire St. \u2022 Shades Oceanfront Bistro, 5083 Santa Monica Ave. \u2022 To The Point Cafe, 4161 Voltaire St. \u2022 Union Bank, 1858 Cable St. \u2022 U.S. Bank, 4827 Voltaire St.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For the next week and a half, Ocean Beach residents can experience the season of giving by donating to the 31st annual Ocean Beach Food and Toy Drive. The drive \u2014 put on by the Ocean Beach Town Council\u2019s Tree Committee \u2014 began Nov. 23 and runs through Monday, Dec. 13. “It\u2019s all about giving […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":256230,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"Food\/toy drive dishes up gift of joy to OB\u2019s less-fortunate neighbors","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11600],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-256229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sdnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}