Charities seek local help to aid the needy

Friday, Nov. 14, 2003 | 5:10 a.m.

WEEKEND EDITION Nov. 15 - 16, 2003

Local nonprofit groups that provide for the homeless are looking for help seeing to their needs during the holiday season.

The Las Vegas Rescue Mission, a Las Vegas shelter and soup kitchen for the down and out, is seeking help from the community in its annual Thanksgiving food drive.

The drive includes nearly 200 businesses, schools and churches that are collecting canned food and dry goods; the shelter is now seeking turkeys from 10 to 14 pounds.

Volunteers will use the turkeys and other donations to provide more than 3,000 Thanskgiving and Christmas meals. It will also accept cash donations to be used for the purchase of turkeys.

For information, call 382-1766 or stop by 480 W. Bonanza Road.

Catholic Charities also is asking for donations of turkeys for its holiday meal program for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

The group's Lied Dining Facility serves more than 2,500 holiday meals to the homeless and needy on the two days.

Its Social Service program plans to provide a turkey dinner food basket to more than 600 needy families for the holidays.

Those who would like to help can contact Sharon Mann, 385-2662.

The Salvation Army of both Henderson and Las Vegas are looking for volunteers to help through the holiday season.

The greatest need is for the Christmas Angel tables at the malls, spokesman Charlie Desiderio said. In that program individuals select children by age and gender to buy gifts for. The gifts are returned to booths at the mall or other locations and distributed to the needy children who have been screened for the program.

Last year the group provided for 10,000 children in Las Vegas. This year officials expect 15,000.

"In order to do that, we need people to sort, putting them all together, getting them all lined up," Salvation Army spokesman Charlie Desiderio said.

Hundreds of people are needed to bring the toys to Cashman Center Dec. 17 and sort them. There is a particular need for Spanish-speaking volunteers on Dec. 18 and 19, when parents pick up the gifts.

People are also needed the entire month to help organize the effort, including secretarial skills. Cash donations also are accepted.

"We need bodies and hands and people who love children to go down there," Desiderio said. "If we miss one child, we didn't do our job right."

To help, call 870-4430.

The Salvation Army of Henderson is looking for the donation of a building to support its food and Christmas programs. The building must be 4,000 to 5,000 square feet and is needed for December only.

The Henderson group is gearing up for this year's food and toy distribution, and the building is a critical part of the process.

Those who can help can call Maj. Les Brooks, 565-9578.