Holiday Help: How to make a difference this holiday season

The chance to make the holidays brighter for those in need is being offered thanks to the following businesses, nonprofits and organizations:

The High Five Turkey Drive will collect frozen turkeys and nonperishable sides from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 16 on Carson Street in front of the Carson Nugget. Additionally, the Carson Mall is collecting food from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday and Nov. 16 and 10 a.m. to noon Saturday and Nov. 18 to complete Thanksgiving food baskets for Friends in Service Helping. Nonperishable foods, especially mixed fruit, green beans, corn, yams, gravy envelopes and broth, are needed.

Walton’s Funerals and Cremations is collecting new and gently used coats, sweaters, scarves and gloves through November. Donations will be gathered and delivered to Good Shepherd’s Clothes Closet in Reno, which provides clothing and personal care items to those who can’t afford them. New or gently used sweaters, jackets, scarves and gloves can be dropped off at any Walton’s location in the region. Local sites include: Walton’s Funerals and Cremations, 1521 Church St., Gardnerville; and Walton’s Funerals and Cremations, Chapel of the Valley, 1281 North Roop St., Carson City. Go to www.waltonsfuneralhomes.com.

This month, several locations in the multi-county Northern Nevada Area Team will serve as drop-off sites for the Samaritan’s Purse project, Operation Christmas Child, to collect gift-filled shoeboxes for children in need from around the world. During the project’s National Collection Week, Nov. 13-20, Carson City residents will transform empty shoeboxes into gifts of hope filled with school supplies, hygiene items and fun toys. Operation Christmas Child will deliver these shoebox gifts to children affected by war, disease, disaster, poverty and famine. This year, the Northern Nevada Area Team hopes to contribute more than 16,000 shoebox gifts toward the 2017 global goal of reaching 12 million children. Drop-off locations include Mason Valley Assembly of God, 210 N. Oregon St., Yerington; Calvary Chapel, 1635 Clearview Drive, Carson City; and LifePoint Church, 1095 Stephanie Way, Minden.

The local Salvation Army is expecting to help more than 3,000 low-income people this holiday season with Angel Tree toys for kids, food baskets for families, utility and rental assistance and other dire needs for those in need. The nonprofit is holding its Red Kettle Kickoff, a fundraiser for this season’s holiday projects, in conjunction with KOH Radio’s Feed Nevada Day on Nov. 17. The fundraiser will run with live broadcasts by KOH from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Max Casino, 900 S. Carson St. in Carson City, and Sanchez Meat Company, 17034 Highway 395 in Minden. A Red Kettle Kickoff breakfast will be from 7 to 9 a.m. at the Black Bear Diner inside Max Casino, the site of a silent auction from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the same day. For information, call 775-887-9120.

Smith’s Food and Drug is again offering customers a convenient way to help others with its Bringing Hope To the Table donation drive. From Nov. 13-Dec. 31, customers can add a $1, $5 or $10 donation to their grocery orders. All contributions will be converted into Smith’s gift cards for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada. The drive ties into Smith’s newly launched Zero Hunger | Zero Waste initiative, an effort aimed at ending hunger in the communities Smith’s calls home and eliminating waste across the company by 2025.

Email your Holiday Help items to editor@nevadaappeal.com.