Christmas trees were loaded at the Pacific Palisades YMCA tree lot for delivery to those who had recently been housed.
Forty families that recently gained housing through Project Homekey received Christmas trees from the Palisades-Malibu YMCA lot in Temescal Canyon.
Y Executive Director Jim Kirtley and Lionnel Zaragoza (Mid Valley Y senior branch executive) thought of different ways they could help families in need this year and providing Christmas trees was one of the ideas.
Zaragoza reached out to Nury Martinez, president of the Los Angeles City Council, and they loved the idea. The housing, Parenthia Place, is located in Council District 6, represented by Martinez.
In a December 4 email, shared with Circling the News, Zaragoza writes: “We will be providing 40 Christmas Trees for families of the first Project Homekey site that opened in Los Angeles. LA Family Housing is working on moving the families into the new site [and] Jim has ordered the trees.
“Marcos, our District Director for CD6, will be connecting me with his LAFH contact to coordinate and I will keep you all posted.”
On December 9, Zaragoza wrote again: “The Palisades team will deliver the trees to Mid Valley on Friday, and I will be working with the city to get them to the Project Homekey location.
“Jim, I know you can’t be there, but I want to thank you for embracing this opportunity and for partnering with me on this unique opportunity. This is just another opportunity for us to share with other organizations and our local elected officials how we continue to show how diverse we are in servicing the community and it’s the reason why we are showing that we are the best investment in Los Angeles.
A tree being delivered to a family.
“LA Family Housing has shared that families are still moving in but have been asking if they can get a Christmas tree. Home Depot will be donating decorations for the families,” Zaragoza said.
On its Instagram, Mid Valley Y noted that the families received a week’s worth of food from Jewish Family Services, LA; a free lunch from Los Tres Hermanos via Doordash; trees through the Palisades YMCA; holiday lights from Home Depot; and gifts for the children from L.A. Family Housing.
Kirtley reached out to the people in Pacific Palisades who have supported the tree lot, which made this donation possible.
“Thank you all for being a part of spreading good things,” Kirtley said. “Hope to see you all Friday from 3:30 to 5:30 at the Ho!Ho!Ho! event held in partnership with and benefiting the Y.”
