Eight hundred kids got a day of fun, and a full stocking to take home thanks to volunteers with Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada.
Matt Vaughan, director of communications for CCNN, says Operation Stocking Stuffer is one of their fastest growing events.
"[Some families are] worrying about whether to put food on the table or whether or not they can provide gifts for their kids," Vaughan says. "We take away some of that stress and ensure that these families are going to have a great holiday and they don't have to worry about that."
While the full stocking brought a sense of the holidays home, the event was much more than the stockings.
"They had a fishing game, they had face painting, they had free desserts," Kristina Kuk, grandmother of seven and soon to be eight grandchildren, says. "And the kids got to make wreaths, and they had a magic show."
One thousand two hundred stockings were donated for the event, and every stocking that isn't given out Sunday is sent to rural partners with CCNN across northern Nevada.
Donna Miller first volunteered for the event back in 2010 after seeing the opportunity in a newspaper. Over the years, she's given more and more to the event, and this year, so donated a total of 505 of the 1,200 stockings.
"My first year I only did 10 stockings," Miller says. "And the second year I did 50 and every year [since] I've done more. This year I wanted to do more, I did 382 last year. I'm very proud of my stockings. I start in July and work on them, and shop the sales all year-round to get the stuff for the kids."
Miller also makes baskets for the annual Easter party, Operation Easter Basket. While Miller is an extraordinary volunteer, she says any volunteering can make a difference.
"It's a wonderful feeling to help," Miller says. "And I think everybody can do something to volunteer."
