Members of the Salvation Army and Sam’s Club employees filled carts with $800 worth of Christmas presents for 10 needy — and homeless — families today.
The families, all of whom have between three and six children, provided wish lists to the shoppers and will receive the presents at a party next week. Each family also will receive a $200 gift card, said Diane Uhlenkamp, market manager for nine Sam’s Club outlets.
Denver is one of five cities where the event, a partnership between Sam’s and the Salvation Army, took place. Sam’s donated $10,000 per city for a total of $1,000 per family.
Jeanne Baker of the Salvation Army and Maggie Olivas, jewelry supervisor at the Sam’s Club on South Broadway, chose toys, clothes, cosmetics — even an electric razor — for a family of five.
There was one thing scrawled on the wish list that was out of their price range: The father asked for “a used laptop to complete education.”
“The laptop is not going to happen,” said Baker.
“That would take all the money we have to spend. There is an electric razor, and maybe a digital camera if we can stretch it that far. This is going to be an amazing Christmas for these families,” said Baker.
