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18 | THE COLONY NEWS | NOVEMBER 2024 | TOYS FOR TOTS By Kathleen Ricketts, 951-894-1919 There is still time to help provide a needy family with a yummy Thanksgiving dinner. The Murrieta UMC Food Pantry is in need of Thanksgiving meals for local residents who depend on the donations. Here is the shopping list for the holiday baskets. Please attach the list to your bags. • Stuffing mix • Gravy • Instant mashed potatoes • Two cans green beans • Mushroom soup • Canned fried crispy onions • Canned yams • Brown sugar • Miniature marshmallows • Cornbread mix • Canned pineapple, crushed or rings • Cake or cookie mix • Coffee or hot chocolate • Any other items you would like to provide You may leave the donations at my home at 40250 Via Ambiente, or you may call me at 951-894-1919 to arrange pick up. I will deliver all donations to the Food Pantry by Sunday, Nov. 10. If you would rather make a monetary donation, checks should be payable to the Murrieta United Methodist Church, and in the memo line, write "Food Pantry." Each week more than 150 families reach out to the Murrieta UMC Food Pantry for help. Last year, 250 Thanksgiving meals were given out and Colony residents contributed 60 of those meals. Thank you so much for your generosity! By Rita Nastri You won't be able to miss them. The Toys for Tots boxes will be out soon just inside the Lobby entrance. As has been the protocol, the bins will be available from Friday, Nov. 15, to Sunday, Dec. 15 for your unwrapped gifts for children of all ages including teens. The Southwest Riverside County Marine Corps League and the US Marine Corps Reserve will be working this year to again provide and distribute toys to needy children. Because so many of our fellow Americans are undergoing difficult economic times, please help us show our support of this worthwhile program. The Marine Corps Toys for Tots Foundation is an IRS Recognized 501c-3 not-for- profit public charity. If any club or organization would also like to participate in this endeavor as a group, please contact me at 698-8640, and I can book the Colony Elf to appear at your holiday function to give a little history of the TFT program and to personally accept your gifts for Toys for Tots. Let's make this holiday special for as many kids as we can! Thanksgiving Meals are Needed