Prior to the start of last year’s Walk, Jacqueline Brehm from Vital Moves led participants in a round of warm-up exercises.
Register NOW for the 27th Annual SBCO Walk for Kids!
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
Don’t miss the 2025 SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) Walk for Kids. The Walk will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8. This signature SBCO event helps support our food, clothing, enrichment, and education programs benefiting youngsters along a 100+-mile corridor from Catalina to the San Carlos Indian Reservation and the Miami school system. SBCO also offers scholarships and enrichment grants to students in Globe. Annually, SBCO touches the lives of approximately 4,000 students through new clothes, backpacks filled with school supplies, college scholarships, contributions to Tri-Community Food Bank, and financial support for a wide range of educational enrichment activities.
Online registration for the 2025 Walk for Kids is available at community-outreach.org. The registration fee of $35 per adult and $10 per child (ages 6 through 18) covers the cost of a t-shirt, snacks, and drinks.
If you choose not to register online, in person registration is available through Nov. 7, every Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the SBCO office at Suite L in the SaddleBrooke Business Plaza on SaddleBrooke Blvd. Registrations also will be accepted the day of the event. However, please register by Oct. 9 to ensure that you receive a t-shirt in your size.
Create a Walk for Kids team! It’s always more fun to walk with your friends and neighbors. And bring your dog! You can get your “steps” in, catch up with your pals, and support a SBCO!
At the Golden Goose fashion show in 2024, volunteer Mary Kay Jennings came as a New York City “street vendor.” Each year, using Golden Goose donations, she creates an imaginative costume that generates lots of laughter at the fashion show.
Don’t Miss the SBCO Fall Meeting and Golden Goose Fashion Show!
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
The SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) Fall Kick-off General Meeting, which features the popular “Golden Goose Fashion Show,” will be held at 3 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 20, in the MountainView Clubhouse ballroom. This is a great opportunity to learn about the wide variety of SBCO programs to feed, clothe, enrich, and educate local youngsters—and see some affordably priced (but very stylish) clothing. This annual fashion show proves that Golden Goose Thrift Shop customers know how to dress well while saving money.
Each year Melanie Stout and Suzanne Marlatt Stewart organize this much-loved event. They choose a theme, select clothing and coordinating accessories from Golden Goose’s inventory, and then recruit models, many of whom contribute their own fashion savvy and sense of humor to the occasion. While Melanie writes the outfit descriptions, determines the lineup, and helps the models proceed to the “runway” in the correct order, Suzanne serves as the show’s stylish and engaging mistress of ceremonies..
The Golden Goose Thrift Shop splits its proceeds 50/50 between SBCO and IMPACT of Southern Arizona. So, remember, whenever you donate items to the shop, buy treasures from its inventory, or work as a “Goose” volunteer, you are helping to support the work of two great local charities. Since its founding more than 20 years ago, the Golden Goose has contributed more than $20 million to these nonprofits, changing the lives of thousands of local residents.
Last year’s SaddleBrooke Ranch Holiday Adopt committee members met to explain the program to their neighbors. Left to right: Vida Kaczmarek, Pat Albu, Cat Nasca, Kim Schweitzer, Natasha Hlebechuk, and Myriam Barthole.
It’s Angel Tree Time
Kim Schweitzer
Since 2007 the SaddleBrooke Community Outreach Holiday Adopt Program has provided hand-picked and carefully wrapped holiday gifts to local families and children. For the last 15 years, SaddleBrooke Ranch has joined this important cause to support children who are enrolled in the Mountain Vista School in Oracle and the Hayden-Winkelman School District.
We ask that you choose an angel from our tree. Each angel details the name, age, clothing sizes, and wish list of holiday items for a child. Gift recipients are referred to us by the Oracle and Hayden-Winkelman school counselors. Let’s open our hearts and make sure our local school children have a gift to unwrap this holiday.
The angel tree will be available on scheduled dates in November and December at the Ranch House lounge area and The Hacienda Club. Dates will be announced in the weekly email blast.
Residents of SaddleBrooke Ranch can donate to the program by:
1. Taking an angel and returning wrapped gifts.
2. Writing a check made payable to SaddleBrooke Community Outreach or SBCO. Checks can be mailed or hand-delivered Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. to the SBCO office at 63675 E. SaddleBrooke Blvd., Suite L., Tucson, AZ 85739.
3. Donating online at community-outreach.org between Oct. 13 and Nov. 17.
Dates for all events and delivery to locations at the Ranch and to Mountain Vista School and Hayden-Winkelman will be announced via email once confirmed.
SBCO is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization (Tax ID # 86-0843458), and all contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.
If you have questions, please contact Kim Schweitzer at KimLise2@gmail.com or Myriam Barthole at bartholemyriam@gmail.com.
SBCO Gets Kids School Ready with Backpacks and Supplies
Kimberley Prochnau
If you have been around children in the last 30 years, you know that backpacks are an essential item for school—holding books, school supplies, paper, and perhaps a few gummy bears.
For the past 13 years, SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) has partnered with local schools to provide backpacks filled with school supplies to children in kindergarten through sixth grade.
At the end of each school year, the schools supply an estimate of next year’s enrollment along with a list of required school supplies, such as pencils, scissors, crayons, and paper. SaddleBrooke resident Linda Kehr assembles the lists and submits an order to an online company that takes charge of loading the backpacks with the requested school supplies and then delivering them to the schools in time for Back-to-School Night in early August.
Currently, the program serves six schools in the Copper Corridor (towns from Catalina to Miami), supplying 1,372 backpacks for the 2025-26 school year. Children in this economically deprived area are assured of being equipped with necessary school supplies and a backpack to keep track of them as well as a myriad of school papers, books, and homework assignments.
Funding for the backpack program, along with other SBCO programs like Kids’ Closet and Teen Closet, is provided by donations from individuals and local businesses and proceeds from sales at the Golden Goose Thrift Shop. All of these sources allow SBCO’s programs to feed, clothe, enrich, and educate local children in schools where 40% to 98% of the students come from low-income families.
Shredding Event on October 25
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
Who needs outdated paper files taking up valuable space in their home? Gather those no-longer-needed materials into boxes or bags and bring them to the Shredding and Recycling Event on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 9 a.m. to noon (or until the truck is full). The event, hosted by Long Realty–Golder Ranch, SaddleBrooke Community Outreach, and the Beacon Foundation, will be held on the SaddleBrooke HOA One parking lot next to the bocce ball courts.
To protect your privacy, all documents are put into containers at the drop-off site. The containers are locked and transported to the Beacon facility for shredding. In addition to documents, only computer hard drives, which may still be inside computers or laptops, will be accepted for recycling.
For each bag or box of items delivered for shredding or recycling, please bring $5 or five cans of food. All donations of cash or food will benefit the Tri-Community Food Bank and the Beacon Group.
For more information, please contact Long Realty at 15250 N. Oracle Road, #110 (in the Bashas’ complex) or 520-665-4200.