Dear Friends and Families,

This year, three non-profit organizations, Warm Wishes, Gifts of the Heart and MarinLink are combining our communities to bring warmth, cheer and comfort to the countless homeless in the Bay Area. For several years we have all shared the same mission: to provide and deliver care packages to the homeless individuals and families in need.

Warm Wishes and Gifts of the Heart create personal, human relationships between Bay Area volunteers and the people on the street once a year when volunteers distribute backpacks stuffed with new gloves, scarves, hats, wool socks, rain ponchos, and hand made cards created by local students to homeless men, women and children living on the streets. This is a small way toward helping them survive the difficult weather months ahead.

This years’ Distribution Day Party will be on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 8am, when our volunteers, including families and their children, meet at the Unity Church of Marin (600 Palm Drive at the Hamilton Center) in Novato. We will begin assembling the backpacks starting at 8am and within two hours we will assemble 2200 adult backpacks and 200 childs backpacks! At 11am we will take to the road to personally distribute the packs to the Bay Area homeless.

We welcome your support with any amount of money you are able to contribute. We will also need volunteers to help assemble the backpacks along with people to deliver them.

Unfortunately, due to a family illness, Bill Hamm will not be directly involved with our efforts this year. Gifts of the Heart and MarinLink are working to continue the legacy of Warm Wishes. Our thoughts and prayers are with Bill and his family. We hope he will be able to join us December 1st.

Please make your contributions as soon as possible to Warm Wishes c/o MarinLink, 2620 The Mall of Northgate, San Rafael, CA 94903. For more information or to let us know you can participate, please call MarinLink at 415.472.0211, or email us at info@warmwishes.org. If you will be volunteering at our December 1st event, please fill out the form to let us know which activity you would like to take part in.

Please copy and send this letter or email it to friends, relatives, clients, fellow workers, bosses, holiday mailing lists – anyone you think might be interested in joining us. Or just put it up on your bulletin board at work. This is a heart-warming holiday project that makes everyone who gets involved feel good while bringing people together for a very worthy cause!

Happy Holidays from Warm Wishes, Gifts of the Heart and MarinLink!

Bill Hamm • Diana Davis • Mary O’Mara • Nancy Boyce • Fran Halperin • Athena Katsaros • Sharon Low Elizabeth Shear • Francie Bedinger • Debra Lamfers Wendy Lee • Laila Rezai • Barbara Bylenga