It takes a lot of planning and preparation to make this happen and Soboba Foundation members started working with the Walmart Supercenter in San Jacinto in September to secure enough toys to cover all the requests. With age groups of infants through teens, the team members at Walmart helped choose toys that would appeal to the children.

The first, and largest, event was on Dec. 9 when hundreds of volunteers arrived at the San Jacinto Unified School District offices to Unstuff the Soboba bus that was filled with 800 toys. Led to the warehouse parking lot by a Soboba Fire engine, the bus came to a halt at the end of two long lines of helpers who passed the toys along in bucket brigade fashion to sorters waiting inside the warehouse. It took about 20 minutes for all the toys to be stacked on designated tables.

There was lots of hot chocolate, Christmas themed cookies and a variety of tamales to keep everyone warm and content while they waited for the bus to arrive. It was a welcome opportunity for community members to connect outside of their traditional roles, coming together for a shared purpose.

Recipients of the delivered gifts were chosen by SJUSD school site family liaisons who provide a list of children’s ages and genders. The following day, toys were bagged up and tagged for each of the families to pick up while enjoying a visit to Santa’s Village, held at the same location on Saturday, Dec. 14.

“We try to make it cute and festive for our families,” said Sheila Blythe, School, Family, & Community Liaison at the district’s Family Engagement Center. Working with the center’s Family & Community Engagement Specialist Stefany Curiel, the duo assists the school site family liaisons in making sure all needs are met for the annual event.

SJUSD Superintendent David Pyle welcomed everyone when it was announced that the bus was a mere block away from the location.

“If you haven’t been to this event before, you are in for a treat,” he told the crowd. “This is our 15^th year that we’re doing the Unstuff the Bus. It was brought to us by Rose Salgado (from Soboba), who we miss dearly. Rose brought it to our district in 2009 and the tradition continues today.”

Pyle was appreciative and thankful to all who came which included members of the Hemet-San Jacinto Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Greater San Jacinto Valley Chamber of Commerce, several first responders, City of San Jacinto staff and Councilmembers, as well as SJUSD staff, teachers, administrators, students and their families.

“This is always such a great night that comes on the heels of November’s turkey distribution by Soboba,” said Pyle, who joined the district in 2020. “These are just bigger events that add to all the other contributions the Tribe makes to us and our students. We couldn’t do what we do without our strong partnership with Soboba.”

Soboba Foundation President Dondi Silvas was at the start of one of the lines receiving gifts that were offloaded from the bus by members of the Soboba Fire Department and others. Also on hand was Foundation Secretary Andy Silvas, Tribal Council members Mike Bentiste, Daniel Valdez and Chairman Isaiah Vivanco. Maria Vivanco, who also was helping on behalf of the Friends of Valley-Wide Foundation, stood near Soboba Tribal member Rhianna Salgado who was joined by fellow Air Force JROTC members from San Jacinto High School.

“We are happy to be able to help and contribute to those that are in need, especially at this time of the year,” said Chairman Vivanco, who has served on the Soboba Tribal Council since 2015. “It’s great to see all these volunteers out here helping us unstuff the bus. It brings the community that much more together; it’s pretty cool.”

More than 3,000 toys were distributed to area churches, youth groups, nonprofits and other Tribal communities on Dec. 10 and 11. This was followed by another Unstuff the Bus event at Tahquitz High School on Dec. 12 for needy families whose children attend Hemet Unified schools.

After the bus arrived at the high school at 5:30 p.m., hundreds of volunteers made a two-line brigade that led from the parking lot to the cafeteria. Lots of colorful lights decorated an archway under which the helpers stood. Inflatables, hot cocoa, cookies and tamales greeted those who arrived about 60 minutes before the bus so they could mingle while holiday songs blared from the loudspeakers.

It took about 30 minutes for all 1,000 toys to make their way from the bus to the waiting hands inside the food kiosk room where items were sorted by gender and age group. Tahquitz High School office manager Joi Burden has been volunteering for the event since the program began.

“I love coming out to help every year; I always worked in different areas, but I like the sorting area the best,” said Burden, who has been at Tahquitz for the past 15 years and is in her fourth year as office manager. “We usually get a good turnout of students and other school staff to unstuff the bus. It’s a great event and we really appreciate Soboba for doing this.”

Miriam Ortiz, Coordinator, School, Family and Community Partnerships at HUSD, said about 25 school site liaisons work hard each year to be sure that the families that need it most are the ones who receive the generous toy donations from the Soboba Foundation. A holiday party for families to come to the school and pick up their gifts amid a festive atmosphere was planned for Dec. 18.

“We usually serve close to 400 to 500 families, depending on the size,” Ortiz said.

Members of the Tahquitz baseball team, ASB, school staff, Principal Andrew Holmes and HUSD Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Mary Wendland were among those who were on hand to assist with the toys. Ortiz said it is nice that Holmes opens his school for all community events.

Hemet Police Sgt. Tim McGinnis was joined by about five officers who were passing the toys along the long line. “Our school resource officers are in the mix; they have numerous events in December,” he said.

“I am so happy to be able to help out every year,” Soboba Foundation President Dondi Silvas said. “To know we are providing families with something to make their Christmas that much brighter is such a blessing. It also fills my heart to see the number of volunteers grow each year to get the buses unstuffed.”

The post Soboba toys bring joy to the community appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Rusty Strait | Senior Reporter

This past week American Legion Post 53 in Hemet celebrated its annual toy distribution to the children of veterans and their families. The lunch had everything you could desire in a holiday feast, especially for mid-day.

The lunch was followed by a very orderly line of youngsters with stars in their eyes and Santa on their minds as they approached the front of the Lodge in a single line and first come, first served, selected from dolls, electric trains, scooters, bicycles, tricycles, dolls, doll houses and a wide array of games and other kinds of toys. After making their selection, they marched like good little soldiers back to their lunch tables to show their parents and friends their loot. Not one child went away without a toy and some got another from the leftovers. This happens every year and everyone agreed that this was the best ever.

The PACT ACT

The Legion cannot express enough the importance of the PACT ACT because it has been so long in coming. It expands health care and benefits to many groups of veterans who were not previously eligible. Eligibility includes veterans who participated in a toxic exposure risk activity while serving on active duty, active duty for training or inactive duty training.

Veterans who already receive health care, benefits or compensation for a service-connected condition will not have their claims are-adjudicated simply because they file for new benefits under the PACT ACT.

Veterans assigned to a duty station in certain locations (including the airspace above) during specific periods of time are also presumed eligible. This includes veterans assigned to Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia or the United Arab Emirates and the airspace above since August 2, 1990. Also on the list of eligible assignments are Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Uzbekistan and Yemen (as well as other countries the VA declares relevant) since September 11, 2001.

Veterans deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, Operation New Dawn, Operation Inherent Resolve or Resolute Support Mission are eligible.

Veterans can always request to have their disability rating reevaluated, but simply filling for benefits under PACT will not trigger re-evaluation. On the other hand, if you’ve previously had a claim rejected and might be eligible under PACT, you should reopen that claim. Filing a claim is free, and the VA encourages veterans who need support to seek out qualified Veterans service officers to help.

If you file a Pact Act benefit claim between now and August 10, 2023, you may receive benefits paid back to August 10, 2022 – the day the bill was signed into law. The VA encourages all veterans who think they might be eligible to file now.

Surviving family members may be eligible for a variety of benefits.

The PACT ACT makes receiving Dependency and Indemnity Compensation, or DIC, easier for survivors. While the VA will contact survivors who were previously denied DIC and may now be eligible, survivors do not have to wait to submit a claim. They can do so now. See your Post 53 Service Officer.

In addition to DIC, other allowances, payments and benefits are available. That list includes a survivor’s pension, burial benefits and memorial items, a burial allowance, education and training, a VA-backed home loan and health care. Additionally, a one-time accrued benefit may be made to a surviving family member when records show the veterans to access their PACT Act benefits or submit claims on their behalf.

Veterans should be very cautious of anyone who guarantees a lucrative financial benefit or service.

There are no fees to apply. And the VA will never charge veterans for processing a claim if they need help applying for benefits.

American Legion Post 53 Service Officers are ready to help. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9-3, 124 North Ramona Street, Hemet, CA 92543

That’s a lot, but it is important to Veterans. Just sayin’

rustystrait@gmail.com

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The post Gala Lunch, Toy Distribution & the PACT ACT appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.