Photos By Sandra Small Photographer.
La Mesa Chamber members and friends came together on January 18th to celebrate the strength and support of our holiday giving, by hosting the first evening mixer of 2017 at Continental Catering. This mixer was a perfect opportunity to kick off 2017 in style. Denise Jermyn and her staff prepared fabulous hors d’oeuvres. Guests raved about the various selections, while enjoying glasses of white and red wines sponsored by the Rivera Supper Club.
The Chamber shared the results of the 2016 holiday projects. The support was overwhelming for these (3) projects. Here is the re-cap of the projects:
Annual Senior Project – People from all over the region participated in donating items for our annual senior project. We collected a Grand Total of 2,338 of canned goods, toiletries, socks and other items. We also collected cash donations from Barona Casino, Albert Fulcher and Myron Lange to allow us to purchase items and over 94 individual gift cards and individual envelopes of cash from businesses and individuals to include in our senior’s gift baskets totaling over $5,025. Carl Burger Dodge Chrysler Jeep RAM World donated vans and employees to deliver all the items to the La Mesa Police Department for us.
Annual Children’s Project – This year we purchased over 665 clothing items and shoes for children attending Rolando, Murray Manor and Maryland Avenue elementary schools. This project is in partnership with local community supporters Jerry Lester and Jon Kirk, owner of Kirk Paving, Inc. With these generous donations, we could make a difference in the lives of these children.
La Mesa Children’s Military Project – This first-time event was created to donate toys and items to children of military families living in La Mesa. A major investment from Jerry Lester made this happen. We contacted Lincoln Military Housing that manages 2 military locations in La Mesa and the rest is history! We received support from businesses from throughout our city and our region to collect 898 toys and items for our military families. We also had live Christmas trees donated by Orchard Supply Hardware and Smart & Final Extra! Warehouse & Market donated discount coupons and diapers to the families. Kristi Facto Insurance donated to the celebration party also.
The Chamber gave away lots of prizes during the raffle portion of the evening. Winner of the grand raffle prize of the evening was Beth Morgante, winner of the most prizes that night was Sandy Eggleton – winning 3 of the many gifts given away. We were joined by Miss La Mesa, Suzanna Wiggins who will complete her reign on March 4th. Thanks to those that supported our annual charitable projects and to those that joined this warm and fun-filled evening.