ABOUT THE HOLIDAY PARTNERSHIP

"We can't help everyone, but everyone can help someone"
- Ronald Reagan
The Holiday Partnership has supported those in need in Crook County for nearly 30 years.
It's a tremendous feat of logistics coordinated by a largely Volunteer Planning Team that organizes the key components, including which businesses are hosting food drives or collecting Toys for Tots, where Trees of Joy will be hosted, and who is willing to take a group of names or multiple families to fulfill their gift wishes.
Then there are the Food Boxes themselves. The goal is to provide a nutritious and complete holiday meal, with enough ingredients to supply a couple of additional meals for the whole family. This takes a considerable amount of coordination with and support from our local grocery stores! For years, Crook County businesses have provided discounted purchase options for the large orders needed, which includes perishable items that cannot arrive until mid-December right before distribution.
The Trees of Joy are quite a process as well. An application process welcomes anyone in Crook County who is eligible as a low-income resident to apply. Each application is verified for accuracy. Volunteers create a tag for each individual who has asked for gifts, pre-allocate the requests that we have for group fulfillment, and place the remaining tags on the trees displayed across the county. Community members select as many tags as they want to fill, and bring the tag(s) and the gifts back to the tree location to check them in by mid-December.
All of this comes together in mid-December. Volunteers collect the food, toys, gifts, and clothing from drop locations and gather at Carey Foster Hall. They begin the process of sorting by family, verifying that the gifts fit the requests, and filling the food boxes. Food boxes and gifts are distributed to recipients shortly thereafter.
THANK YOU
Thank you to Crook County and the staff at the Fairgrounds for supporting Holiday Partnership and
for the use of Carey Foster Hall, and to the OSU Extension Office for use of the Clover Club building.
For all the Volunteers, who are far too many to list by name, we appreciate every hour of your time!
To the Businesses that host boxes and trees, encourage clients and customers to give,
fulfill name tags yourself, and promote the program – we couldn’t do this without you!
And thank you to our Community.
A program of this magnitude, largely run by volunteers, is spectacular.
Prineville and Crook County are known to rally behind our residents. This is another prime example of that strength and support. We are honored to help make that possible this year. Let's all enjoy the holiday season.
The Crook County Foundation was honored to take on the management role of the Crook County Holiday Partnership in 2020. Founded in 1998, the Foundation brings people, resources, and inspiration together for the enrichment of the community. CCF provides college scholarships and supports educational improvement, community leadership development, and arts and cultural opportunities in Crook County.