SaddleBrooke Ranch volunteers formed an assembly line to prepare 40 Thanksgiving baskets for delivery to San Manuel High School.
Thanksgiving Baskets Brighten the Holiday for Local Families
Mona Sullivan
SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) now has two teams working on providing Thanksgiving Baskets to local families. The Saddlebrooke Ranch team delivered 40 baskets to San Manuel High School and had 18 volunteers assisting with their program. Ranch volunteers included co-chairs Anthony Signorelli and Tim Bowen, and Susan Knight, Ann Hulett, Grechen Annan, Rami Mantoura, Marie Mantoura, Lu Legel, Vic Nordstrom, Jo Ann Leach, Kyle Dudley, Ben Eisenstein, Nancy Eisenstein, Bob Cobb, Cheryl Cobb, Jeff Kaczmarek, Viva Kaczmarek, and Dianne Signorelli. The SaddleBrooke Ranch team delivered their baskets on Nov. 22.
The SaddleBrooke team provided 63 baskets to Oracle with 37 delivered to Mountain Vista Elementary School and 26 to Horizon Health & Wellness Center. SaddleBrooke volunteers included co-chairs Mark Liefke and Mona Sullivan and Eileen Snearly, Leonard Hamer, David Hill, Peter Lewis, Barry Emmons. The SaddleBrooke team prepared and delivered their baskets on Nov. 25.
The volunteers filled laundry baskets with the food items typically needed for a Thanksgiving meal, including apples, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, potatoes, onions, green beans, corn, stuffing, rolls, pumpkin pie, Cool Whip, and a large turkey. Laundry baskets are used because they provide a sturdy container that can then become a useful household item. The volunteers then delivered the filled baskets to the three designated locations. In all, SBCO provided a turkey and all the trimmings to a total of 104 families in San Manuel and Oracle.
SBCO Celebrates Another Successful Year of Service
Laura Pauli, SBCO President
Since its founding in 1997, SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCO) has focused on assisting children in Arizona’s Copper Corridor communities—from Catalina to Globe—which were built around the mining industry. When many of the mines closed in the 1990s, unemployment soared, economic opportunities shrank, and poverty rates increased. Of the 17 schools served by SBCO, all are Title I Schools, meaning at least 40% of the students come from low-income families. In some schools, the figure is as high as 90%.
Over its 26+ year history, SBCO has dramatically expanded its service area and increased the variety and scope of its programs, benefitting tens of thousands of children. Our members, volunteers, donors, leaders, and Board of Directors are committed to SBCO’s mission of providing opportunities for kids to succeed.
SBCO is an all-volunteer organization. In 2023-24, our volunteers from SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch logged over 70,800 hours of service, which is equivalent to a nearly $2.4 million payroll. This labor enabled us to implement our programs to Feed, Clothe, Enrich, and Educate local youngsters.
Our programs provided nearly $1,000,000 of assistance to children and families living throughout our 100-mile service area. Funding sources included donations from SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents, contributions from local business supporters, and distributions from the Golden Goose Thrift Shop.
To help Feed families in Oracle, Mammoth, and San Manuel, SBCO ran a Food Drive in March 2024 for the Tri-Community Food Bank (TCFB). SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents very generously donated 18,000 pounds of food and more than $130,000. Approximately 140 volunteers sorted and packed the items for transport to the TCFB. In November Thanksgiving Food Baskets were delivered to 111 families.
To help Clothe the youngsters, Kids’ Closet provided nearly 1,500 children with almost 3,000 complete wardrobes for fall and spring. Teen Closet provided more than 90 teens, who maintained good grades and performed community service, with fall and spring wardrobes. Hundreds of volunteers staffed these programs.
To help Enrich the lives of these kids, SBCO distributed nearly $135,000 in grants to teachers, schools, sport teams, libraries, and preschool programs. In the spirit of the winter holidays, 628 children and 143 adults in nearby communities received holiday gifts via the Adopt-a-Family/Child program, thanks to donors and shoppers in SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch.
To help Educate high school graduates continuing their education or training, 134 students received either two-year or four-year scholarships, an investment in their futures totaling more than $340,000. The Scholarship Endowment Fund, launched shortly before the pandemic, is now valued in excess of $500,000.
Residents of SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch also enjoyed two community events offered by SBCO. Quite a few pets and about 275 participants enjoyed the 2023 Walk for Kids, thanks to the efforts of approximately 50 volunteers. More than 135 volunteers planned and staffed the 2024 Home Tour during which 580 eager participants visited six remodeled homes.
For everyone who volunteered for, led, participated in, or supported SBCO’s activities, know that you have made a lasting positive impact in the lives of thousands of children and teens. On behalf of the SBCO Board, please accept our gratitude and our thanks.
Marilyn Christensen has been an SBCO volunteer since 2006, helping to ensure kids and volunteers have a great Kids’ Closet experience.
SBCO Volunteer Motivated by the Joy of Working with Children
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
In May 2006, Marilyn Christensen and her husband, Marshall, moved to SaddleBrooke from Tempe, Ariz., which had been their home for 34 years. They are the parents of two and have six grandchildren. For 35 years, Marilyn was a dental hygienist in both Tempe and Tucson, but she also has taught swimming lessons to young children since 1974.
After arriving in SaddleBrooke, Marilyn read an article in the newspaper about SaddleBrooke Community Outreach’s programs to provide local children with opportunities to succeed. The chance to work with children prompted her to become an SBCO volunteer in the fall of 2006.
Marilyn’s volunteer work with SBCO began with her serving as a “dresser” at Kids’ Closet. This is essentially a personal shopper who helps an assigned student find clothing that he or she likes and fits properly and also makes sure the student receives all of the items to which they are entitled, including toiletries, books, underwear, socks, shoes, T-shirts, and depending upon the season, shorts or pants, sweatshirt or jacket, hat and gloves. Although Marilyn continues to serve as a dresser and fits shoes on the students, for the past 16 years she has scheduled the volunteers working on Mondays at Kids’ Closet. For the past three years, this role has expanded to scheduling volunteers for all three days that Kids’ Closet is open during a session: Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. This is a big job involving approximately 320 volunteers. However, Marilyn says that she finds it most gratifying to work with the kids and navigate the volunteers’ schedules each week. In addition, she annually distributes the SaddleBrooke Source Book to 236 homes (Robson donates funds to SBCO in exchange for volunteers delivering the directory).
In addition to her volunteer work for SBCO, for five years Marilyn sewed dresses for “Dress A Girl,” a program that provides cotton dresses to girls living in underdeveloped countries. She also recently signed on as a volunteer with Senior Village.
When asked about a memorable moment from her volunteer work, Marilyn responded, “A little boy came to Kids’ Closet for the first time and became very anxious as we approached the checkout counter. I asked him what was wrong and big tears came to his eyes and he said, ‘I don’t have any money to buy these clothes.’ I told him there was no cost to him, that they were a gift from all the people at SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch.”
Marilyn says the benefit she receives from being a volunteer is “The joy of working with the kids and the feeling of fulfillment when the day is done. I love being able to give back and being involved in our community.”
To anyone considering becoming an SBCO volunteer, Marilyn says, “There are so many areas that SBCO has to offer people who want to be involved in their community. The stories of how Kids’ Closet and the Golden Goose Thrift Shop started are a true statement of how people who want to help and give back can make such a difference in the lives of their immediate community and the surrounding areas. So many people in SaddleBrooke have had amazing careers and continue to have skills they can use here in retirement.”
If you are interested in becoming an SBCO volunteer, visit community-outreach.org/volunteers/ and register.
Lots of SBCO Events Coming in 2025
Nancy McCluskey-Moore
SaddleBrooke Community Outreach (SBCo) has a busy schedule planned for the new year. We invite you to help us provide local children with the food, clothing, enrichment activities, and post-high school scholarships they need to succeed. Through your donation of time and/or funds, together we can make a big difference in the lives of many local young people.
2025*
Jan. 13: Kids’ Closet spring session opens
Jan. 14-25: Teen Closet spring shopping days
March 1: College Scholarship applications due
March 15: Food Drive (monetary donations begin March 3)
March 29: Remodeled Home Tour (ticket sales start March 10)
April 7: Kids’ Closet spring session ends
April 14: Annual Meeting and Election of Officers
April 19: Recycling Event
May TBD: College Scholarships awarded
July TBD: Teen Closet fall shopping days
Sept. TBD: Kids’ Closet fall session opens
Oct. 20: Fall Meeting and Golden Goose Fashion Show
Oct. 24: Holiday Adopt Donation Campaign begins
Oct. TBD: Walk for Kids
Nov. 1: Make a Difference Annual Donation Campaign begins
Nov. 8: Recycling Event
Nov. 21: Holiday Adopt Donations due
Nov. 24: Thanksgiving Baskets delivered
Dec. TBD: Kids’ Closet fall session ends
Dec. 14: Holiday Adopt gifts delivered
* Exact dates subject to change. Please check the SBCO website, community-outreach.org, for updates.