As many of you witnessed at the August luncheon, the Community Service Committee and the SABOMA members have been very busy doing just what the headline reads….. MAKING A DIFFERENCE.

The Community Service Committee became involved with The Methodist Children's Hospital this past year after hearing the news, that Laura O'Toole's six -year old son was diagnosed with leukemia. This hit close to home for the SABOMA family as Laura has been a long time Allied Member and a friend to many in the industry. Children who stay in the hospital for chemo and radiation treatments are often isolated so that they are protected from exposure to germs and viruses and their hospital rooms become home for days, weeks and sometimes months at a time. Words like Wii, and avatar may sound like a foreign language to some, but for the kids at The Methodist Children's Hospital the doctors, nurses and parents all agree that the Wii games provide a positive distraction and improve the attitude of these children during their often long hospital stays.

The SABOMA Community Service Committee was able to raise enough money to purchase eight Wii game systems, three Nintendo DS handheld games and a couple of games for hospital rooms. Part of this money came from the PJ O'Toole PAL bracelets that were sold at previous SABOMA luncheons and the rest came from the generous support of SABOMA members.

Raising the money for Wii's is just one way the SABOMA Community Service Committee and SABOMA Members impact lives in San Antonio. The annual school supply drive was organized to support The Children's Shelter which provides emergency shelter services to children from infancy to 14 years of age. Because the Back-To School drive has grown from collecting 50 backpacks five years ago to filling three vans in the last couple of years, the school supply drive has benefited other local charity organizations to include The San Antonio Youth Center, SAMMinistires Shelter, Child Advocates San Antonio (CASA) and Hill Country Ranch House.

The San Antonio Children's Shelter was presented with a check for $3,200 at the August luncheon. This generous contribution was result of property managers who held building drives in their buildings. Tenant participation was amazing.

The Angel Tree program started back in 2000 supporting the Salvation Army by providing gifts to the children of low-income families, children of incarcerated parents, and elderly people. Today this program has evolved into benefitting The San Antonio Youth Center, CASA and Hill Country Ranch House. This program is successful each year due to the generous support of property managers and vendors that place a Christmas tree in their office and/or building lobby and ask their tenants to participate in the program by purchasing a gift for one of these special angels.

For at least seven years or longer, the Community Service Committee has had the honor and pleasure of serving a warm dinner to the families at the SAMMinisteries Shelter. As in the case of many of these projects, this could not be possible without the volunteers that donate money and their time preparing a hot meal. These volunteers prepare a main dish, vegetables, salad, and several desserts for one hundred and fifty people who reside in the shelter. The dining room is decorated and each table is covered with colorful table covers for the families to enjoy a peaceful dinner with their loved ones. The special details mean so much these people.

As you can see the Community Service Committee takes pride in touching lives and extending a helping hand to those in need. This year we had twenty-seven members volunteer their time to getting the word out to the SABOMA community which is the key to obtaining the support from our members for the various charity projects that the Community Service Committee takes on each year.

"None of this could be possible without the support of our committee members and our generous membership who always step up to extend a helping hand to those in need" Committee Co-Chair, Gloria Contreras.

Thank you to all who have participated as a committee member and to those who have supported our efforts over the years. Let's keep up the great work and continue to make a difference in the lives of those who need a helping hand.