Beefeaters
By Daily Press staff
St. Joseph’s Center has a whole lineup of holiday celebrations for needy families in December.
For St. Joseph Center, a Westside social service agency, December is a time for spreading holiday cheer to low-income and homeless families and individuals living throughout Venice, Santa Monica, Palms and Mar Vista. Each year, the center serves roughly 7,000 people through a variety of programs, including job training and child care. During the holidays, the center organizes events and parties that bring together staff, clients and volunteers, and which offer neighbors and supporters ways to participate in the spirit of giving.
On Dec. 1, 22 staff members from Payden & Rygel, one of Los Angeles’s top global investment management firms, used a donation of $35,000 from one of their CEOs to go on a two-hour shopping spree, purchasing toys, household goods, food and clothing for St. Joseph Center clients.
Later in the month, various St. Joseph Center programs will offer caroling, cookies and camaraderie during parties hosted by a variety of community organizations. Neutrogena will host parties for St. Joseph Center’s monetary advisory program and veterans representative payee program, which provides financial counseling and housing assistance to veterans and individuals with mental illnesses.
St. Matthew Episcopal Parish will serve holiday meals to homeless men and women at the center’s bread and roses café. Community United Methodist Church of Pacific Palisades will provide Christmas dinner for low-income individuals from St. Joseph Center’s family center and a week later Saint Monica Parish Community will have punch and presents ready for a family center party.
Girl scout troops No. 212 and No. 808 will liven up the festivities at Homeless Service Center, and the Village School, St. Paul the Apostle Catholic School and First Presbyterian Church of Santa Monica will throw parties for low-income children and families at St. Joseph Center’s two childcare facilities.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 15, 2005. Read the original PDF.