Event Coverage

Operation Reindeer makes holidays brighter for families and seniors

Realtors and affiliates of SILVAR’s Los Gatos/Saratoga District embarked on Operation Reindeer this week, to make the holidays brighter this season for 52 families and 54 seniors in the community.

For more than 20 years, Los Gatos/Saratoga District’s Realtors and affiliates, in conjunction with the Red Cross, the schools and churches, shop for gifts and deliver them to needy families in the area. This year, Operation Reindeer is being coordinated by Sharon Butler, branch manager of Indymac in Los Gatos. The program involves more than 15 real estate and affiliate companies in the Los Gatos and Saratoga areas.

Butler, who has been involved with the program for the past eight years, said Operation Reindeer is special to the Realtors and affiliates “because it’s one charity where, literally, all the labor is voluntary and a hundred percent of everything donated goes directly to needy families and seniors in our communities. We live in a wonderful place, we make a living in these communities, and we feel it’s incumbent to give back to those who are less fortunate who are living right here.”

The needy families and seniors are identified by the schools, senior centers, churches and the American Red Cross. The Realtors and affiliates are given name tags with the ages of the adults and children, so they can buy appropriate presents. Sometimes, the children will have wish lists. Everyone in the family receives a present, along with a gift certificate to buy food for the holidays.

Operation Reindeer is funded by individual donations from the Realtors and affiliates and a portion of the proceeds from their district’s annual Pumpkin Auction, which is held in October. In addition to monetary contributions, many volunteers give their time to shop, wrap and help distribute presents and food certificates. Butler estimated the program will benefit nearly 400 people this holiday season.

“The people we serve are very, very, very needy,” said Butler. “It’s heartbreaking to read the wish lists from the children because they are not asking for extravagant stuff, just simple items, like a pair of warm socks, a pair of warm gloves for a mother that has to work outdoors in the winter, or a lap blanket.”

As Alain Pinel Realtor Mark Miano dropped off presents collected from his office, he said, “Many of the families the program helps are unemployed single parent families. These are kids that don’t have lunch money and they are often on their own because a parent has to work long hours.”

Miano, who has been involved in the project for the past 12 years, added,  “If we can just give these kids that spark of hope that lets them know there is someone out there looking after them, then despite the odds, hope can carry them through their lives.”

The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) is a professional trade organization representing over 4,000 REALTORS® and Affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. SILVAR promotes the highest ethical standards of real estate practice, serves as an advocate for homeownership and homeowners, and represents the interests of property owners in Silicon Valley.

The term "REALTOR®" is a registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and who subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics.

For further information, please contact Rose Meily at SILVAR Public Affairs, e-mail , or phone (408) 200-0109.

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