Nottley said 25 people gathered on Second Street in Napa on December 19 to give gifts to children and families. In total, more than 250 parents and children received gifts ranging from jackets and shoes to bikes, skateboards, scooters, and gym classes, and gift cards valued at over $ 5,000 were distributed. Another 50 seniors should receive gifts through Abode Services.

Support local journalism

Your membership enables our reporting.

{{Featured_Button_text}}

Nottley’s working hours are well ahead of the arrival of COVID-19. For the past five years, she has also been liaising with friends at Nextdoor to collect and transport donated furniture for lower-income households, including five families who lost their homes in the North Bay wildfire this summer.

“We have set up at least 30 houses, from carpets on the floor to the beds – we go in and set everything up for them, set up bunk beds for the kids,” she said. “A family (with three children) that we have heard of has moved to a place where there is nothing. What we are doing now is to get the mother everything she needs.”

In the early months of the pandemic, Nottley again hired helpers to prepare and deliver meals to ease the pressure on working women.

“I saw how exhausted they were trying to deal with children, work and home,” she said of the program, which was normally twice a week for households. “… So we cooked fresh, healthy meals for these families and delivered them hot to these families so that the mothers would not have to shop and the children could have healthy food. It gives them extra time to look after their children. “