There was plenty of holiday cheer spread at the Old Mission Santa Inés on Dec. 16 as hundreds of families and volunteers took part in the Mission’s 11th annual Christmas Basket Program.
The event was set up to help make Christmas a reality for struggling families in Santa Ynez by providing wrapped presents and food. This year, 214 families signed up for baskets. Among the donors who adopted families and provided gift baskets: Presbyterian Church, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Santa Ynez Charter School, the parishioners and friends of Old Mission Santa Inés and the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Solvang and Los Olivos Rotary members, 4-H, and many local individual businesses and families.
In addition to the gift baskets, each family also received a box, weighing about 40 pounds, of food items. Among the food donors was El Rancho Market, which provided 428 chickens so that each family could receive two.
Chairperson Genevieve Geyser said the local support for the program was outstanding, noting that all proceeds went directly to local families. “We should take care of our own community,” she said.