Holiday Family Project

from Andy Elder, ZNA President

A couple weeks ago, 8 families with 27 kids woke up to a brighter Christmas morning, thanks to the dedication and generosity of our Zilker neighbors. I'm proud to report that ZNA's Holiday Family Program was a resounding success! Each year our team of Zilker Elves organizes donations, shopping, wrapping and delivery for several families at Zilker Elementary who could use help during the holiday season. This year our program coordinator had the additional challenge of being out of town for a week in December, and pulled together a fantastic effort to get everything under the tree early on Christmas week.

I want to recognize some of our key volunteers:

• Barbara Cossie and Kaye Trybus, the Chief Elves who make it all happen
• Mike Meier, Lorraine Atherton, Bobby Rigney, and Connie Temple, who wrap and deliver better than Fed-Ex
• Skip Smith, for managing the constant flow of funds and staying on top of the budget
• Ryan Stryker, for setting up Paypal donations on the ZNA website

And most of all, thank you to the numerous neighbors who volunteered, donated, inquired, shopped, dropped off, and otherwise helped make this possible. This year was the first time in several years that I can recall where neighborhood donations exceeded our budget, allowing for some extra gifts and a positive balance to start off next year's holiday fund.

I hope this news caps off a joyous holiday season for everyone, however you chose to celebrate it. 

Zilker Elves at Work

A big thank you goes out to all our neighbors who gave to the ZNA Holiday Families Program.