The Coins for Christmas fundraiser for Self Help raised almost $3,000. Courtesy photo
SELF HELP NEWS
Self Help would like to thank our community for the many generous donations given via the Coins 4 Christmas coin drive. The funds raised, which will support Self Help’s efforts to keep northern New Mexicans’ lights on as the pandemic wears on, came to almost $3,000!
In late November, Self Help made the difficult decision to forgo its annual Salvation Army bell-ringing fundraiser, which would have raised funds to provide emergency aid to up to 200 Los Alamos County residents in the coming year—a blow in a year when support is needed more than ever. However, creative thinking and collaboration from several community members helped offset this loss.
The coin drive was spearheaded by Rao Garimella, who approached Self Help with the idea after seeing a news article about a person in Utah who donated his coin jar to someone in need. Rao got the word out to the Los Alamos community, and worked hard to make donating easy—offering multiple places to drop off coin jars and even offering to pick up coins. In their own neighborhood on North Mesa, the Garimella family took these efforts a step further, rallying neighbors and putting flyers on doors. Many of his neighbors participated, raising $461 of the total.
RE/MAX First was a huge help in the coin drive. On top of their own fundraiser for Self Help, RE/MAX First offered their office as a central drop-off point for coins. Coins left at RE/MAX represented over $1,000 of the total raised!
Self Help would also like to thank Enterprise Bank & Trust, whose staff coordinated deposits for dozens of coin jars brought in over the last month.
Self Help hopes to continue the Coins 4 Christmas drive in future years, possibly with even more drop-off sites at local businesses. The drive is also a great project for neighborhoods and workplaces to take on. Anyone can hold a coin fundraiser for Self Help, and Self Help is happy to provide coin collection jars for group fundraisers. Coins can be dropped off and designated for Self Help anytime at Enterprise Bank & Trust.