Local Brownie troop helps nonprofit get holiday gifts ready in Sunnyvale

Elves in training

Members of Brownie Troop 60125 volunteered at the Family Giving Tree warehouse in Sunnyvale on Dec. 7, sorting, wrapping and organizing gifts and getting them ready for bagging for the nonprofit’s Holiday Wish Drive. The troop also hosted a Virtual Giving Tree along with Junior Troop 60174, adopting 25 wish cards, and used cookie sale proceeds to shop for gifts at Pennyland Toys in Campbell, which offered the troops a discount. Donations to the Virtual Giving Trees can be made until 9 p.m. on Jan. 15, 2026, at https://wishdrive.org/girlscouttroop60125.

Founded in Milpitas and now located in Santa Clara, Family Giving Tree has already collected more than 24,000 gifts this season and is working toward helping 50,000 children and families across the Bay Area, according to Evelyn Huynh, director of community resource development.

Food kits

Sunnyvale School District hosted its first December districtwide food kit distribution on Dec. 19, providing nutrition support to families ahead of the two-week winter break. This effort comes in direct response to testimony from families at a recent Board of Education meeting, who emphasized how critical school meals were to their children during the recent government shutdown.

Building on the strong turnout of more than 400 participants at the Thanksgiving distribution last month, multiple district departments collaborated to meet demand. Each December food kit was designed to help feed a family of four for the duration of the break.

The distribution required no registration and was open to all district families. Kits included frozen food, dry goods, and fresh produce to help sustain families through the early days of the winter break.