For more than 30 years, Mara Cantelo organized Tender Loving Christmas, a free Christmas dinner in Yucca Valley, open to all Morongo Basin residents, who don’t want to spend the day alone. After Mara’s death in 2017, the event continued as Mara’s Christmas Wish. With your invitation, here’s Ernest Figueroa…
For a variety of reasons, many Morongo Basin neighbors find themselves isolated over the holidays. If that’s you, or it sounds like someone you know, then the volunteers of Mara’s Christmas Wish have an invitation to join the free Christmas Day celebration and buffet feast. The volunteers have spent weeks trying to ensure the annual Christmas tradition continues. The dinner takes place Christmas Day from 12:30 to 4 p.m. at the Yucca Valley Community Center on the highway at Dumosa.
Volunteers and financial donations are still needed to make sure Wednesday’s event goes on. Mara’s Christmas Wish cannot happen without your tax-deductible financial support. And volunteers are still needed to help decorate the community center prior to Christmas Day, set up on Christmas morning and serve food at the Christmas dinner. Volunteers are also needed on Thursday, December 26, from 8 until 1 to clean up afterward. Come for an hour or the whole morning.
More information is available at maraschristmaswish.org.
