Neighbors helping neighbors builds community spirit for Christmas

This Christmas, Maricopa Neighbors in Need, a community outreach group with more than 2,000 members on Facebook, will hold its annual “Operation Christmas Child.”

The program, which parents had to apply for in November, is for children ages 1-16. The operation will assist 100-125 families.

Renee Oldenbach, the group’s leader, said the effort extends throughout the community.

“Members of the community donate gifts and we sometimes have organizations and businesses that donate gifts, and we match those with the needs and ages of the kids whose parents have applied,” Oldenbach said.

Starting about Dec. 18, Maricopa Neighbors in Need members will arrange for the delivery of the gifts. Sometimes, parents can pick them up at members’ homes and, if needed, deliveries are arranged.

The effort takes a good deal of coordination. Planning for each year’s Christmas giveaway starts around August.

Despite Maricopa’s attractive economic statistics, the need is there for such programs.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median annual household income in Maricopa is $75,229. While that number may look favorable compared with the national average of $65,712, the prices of everyday goods are rising at unsustainable rates for many.

A few months ago, a financial website, Wallethub.com, ranked the Phoenix metro area as the worst in the country for runaway inflation.

Oldenbach said it’s something she and her fellow volunteers encounter daily.

“There’s a lot of need in our community this year with the inflation,” Oldenbach said. “I don’t think there’s ever been more need. People are putting everything towards gas and their rent or mortgage.”

Maricopa Neighbors in Need operates year-round. It was founded nearly 10 years ago by Trena Bento, who handed over the reins to Oldenbach when she moved to Coolidge a year ago.

Oldenbach, a Montana native who moved here after retiring in 2013, got to know Bento
when the two worked together with Meal Train, a group that identifies people and families going through devastating life situations —like a death in the family, house fire or other emergency —and provides them with meals.

“We find out their preferences and we’ll prepare their meals,” Oldenbach said, explaining that each member of Meal Train would be responsible for one meal. The goal: families going through traumatic events not needing to cook for a few days, or even a few weeks.

It was through those interactions that Oldenbach found out about the grassroots group Maricopa Neighbors in Need.

“The people in this community are so good to one another,” Oldenbach said. “We always have just really good people, that if somebody is looking for specific items or just need food, in general, we, we always have people that will donate.”

Maricopa Neighbors in Need has a similar program that provides Easter baskets in the spring.

 

This content was first published in the December edition of InMaricopa magazine.