Graettinger: Sun City Posse needs help with giving program

The Sun City Posse needs your help in its annual “Mission of Joy” giving program for some really deserving students.

This year we all have watched a never-ending cycle of grief as some of our neighbors, friends and family members have contracted COVID-19 and either prayerfully recovered, or sadly passed away. For the most part, we are helpless because restrictions prohibited us from being at the hospital in support or caring for the really sick person at home.

But as our struggle of uncertainty through what has been described as our “darkest winter” continues, we do have a chance to make a difference. Each year, our Posse volunteers give toys to the 159 students in Aguila. These students range in age from preschool to eighth-grade.

Aguila is nearly 70 miles from Phoenix. It is a small community with about 800 residents. Cantaloupe farming appears to be a main staple. It is about 1.5 square miles in land mass and according to details on the Internet the per capita income is around $30,000. The percentage of people living in poverty is more than 60 percent.

The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office took the lead in helping youngsters who live in the community during the Christmas holiday season. This is the second year the Sun City Posse has supported this effort in cooperation with MCSO.

This year we are reaching out to the Sun City community to help support this activity in order to ensure that each youngster receives more than one gift from our community.

That is where you come in!

This is going to be a dramatically different holiday. Those of us who have historically zipped off on a cruise or long-distance vacation with family or friends during the holidays are now staying home. Or, in other cases, family members or friends, who have traveled to Sun City to be with us, have also chosen to stay home.

So as we reflect on the next few weeks and ponder our sadness at how different this year’s holiday will be, let’s turn our gloom into giving.

“This is our first ever outreach program for the children of Aguila,” Rich Nonini, Posse commander, said. “In many cases these gifts will be the only presents they will receive. We decided to reach out to the people of Sun City because we, too, are aware of just how much this year’s holiday is going to be different. For some it will be a lonely time because family won’t be around. But it also can be a time, as the Christmas song says, of ‘good tidings,’ because we know that the gift we give will bring true joy to a young boy or girl this year.”

So grab hold of that gift of giving by donating a toy. It can be anything from a teddy bear to a truck, a doll to a dragon, or Video games to board games. These youngsters need something to make them smile. It doesn’t have to be an expensive toy; it just has to be brand new.

All gifts should be unwrapped and delivered to the Posse, 10861 W. Sunland Drive, by Wednesday, Dec. 9.

“Thank you in advance for your support,” the commander added.

For more information, you can call 623-972-2555. 

A contingent of Posse members, along with members of the MCSO, will deliver the toys to the town prior to the holiday.

Editor’s Note: Diana Graettinger is Sun City Posse public information officer.