This week, Northwest Assistance Ministries (NAM) is in full holiday mode for its Season of Blessings campaign. Over 1,700 families pre-registered back in October to receive holiday food and toys this year. Distribution is scheduled this week starting on Tuesday, December 15 for the families who registered and were contacted by NAM to start picking up either food, toys, or both, at NAM via a drive-thru system.
On Tuesday and Thursday, December 17, NAM is partnering with Houston Food Bank to provide holiday meals to the families that registered for food. Those families that pre-registered received an email with a date and time for their scheduled pick up, which will help NAM keep the line moving as quickly and efficiently as possible. Starting at 9 a.m. and going until Noon, families that registered with NAM will come to our food pantry to receive an entire holiday meal, which includes a turkey and all the fixings. Last year, NAM served 994 pre-registered families holiday meals from NAM, but that number has almost doubled this year.
Friday, December 18 and Saturday, December 19 will be HUGE distribution days for NAM from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. The majority of the pre-registered families are scheduled to pick up both food and toys on those days. There will be a NAM Hands of Service day on Friday where all available NAM staff will be working to check-in clients and carry food and toys out to the cars.
This year, NAM's goal has been to collect 16,000 toys to make sure the 5,400 children that registered for gifts have a joyous holiday season. We are still accepting donations of new, unwrapped toys for children ages 0-18 to reach that goal. Toy donations can be dropped off at NAM (15555 Kuykendahl Rd, Houston, TX 77090) between 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. or The Harrell Family Opportunity Center located behind NAM’s main building between 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
“We knew there was going to be a bigger need this year, but we didn’t imagine it being this substantial,” said Les Cave, NAM’s President & CEO. “Last year we provided holiday toys for 1,773 children and this year the need is nearly three times that. We called upon the community to help us provide gifts for all of these children and the response has been so wonderful. We're thankful to everyone who has donated food and toys, or volunteered their time.”
For more information about NAM’s Season of Blessings, visit https://www.namonline.org/season_of_blessings.
Northwest Assistance Ministries is a non-profit, community-based social service agency that strives to meet basic human needs through Neighbors Helping Neighbors. NAM provides assistance in areas such as food, shelter, health, education, and domestic violence awareness and intervention. During its last fiscal year, NAM touched the lives of more than 134,000 people through its many programs and services.