December holiday toy and food drive

Project Shepherd makes the December holidays a bit more comfortable for those who are low income or unemployed.

This holiday program helps provide the fixings for a holiday meal and toys for children. Over 1,200 individuals living in Lakewood, many of them children and seniors, will not be able to enjoy the holidays without the food, gifts and toys that many of us take for granted.

Applicants can sign up in November and must be Lakewood residents (determined by a current Lakewood mailing address and utility billing) and meet income restrictions. Call 562-925-7512 for more information, or for questions about donating to the program.

'Teddy Bear Tree' program

Reaching out to Lakewood's young people with a special gift is yet another way Project Shepherd makes the holidays brighter.

Teddy Bear Trees are set up at City Hall and Burns Community Center from mid-November to early December.

On each tree are paper teddy bear ornaments with a child's name, age and holiday gift wish. Anyone can select a paper teddy bear and play "Santa" by purchasing the item for the child. The unwrapped gift and the teddy bear ornament are brought to City Hall or to Burns Community Center. These gifts are then delivered along with holiday meal fixings to the child's family.

You can also help by purchasing gifts from Project Shepherd's Amazon Wish List, which are delivered to Project Shepherd for distribution. 

Thanks to our generous community, the Project Shepherd Teddy Bear Tree program fulfills special toy or gift wishes for more than 700 children each holiday season.

Project Shepherd is very grateful to our sponsors and the Lakewood community for their extraordinary generosity.

Virtual Canned Food and Toy Drive

You can also make an online donation by card to help Project Shepherd purchase the toys and food needed for families registered in the program. 

Donate to the virtual food and toy drive here.

All donations are tax-deductible.