Gifts for Teens Director Elaine Benoit explains how GFT helps needy teens and families celebrate their holidays with joy. GFT creates special duffles and totes that are filled with personal, practical and fun gifts and gives them to needy San Jose teens.  Thanks for 24 years of success serving thousands of needy San Jose teens!https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p3a47aiOvLbkE7tfOlVMq415PBBupC7J/view?usp=sharinghttp://livepage.apple.com/








  2021 DONATIONS


Generous Donors are sent wonderful gift items

and cash donations to  he 2021 GFT bags


SD Trombetta Foundation $20,000

A generous cash grant of $20,000 from the

              S.D. Trombetta Foundation.


SF Giants Bobble Head Figures

200 bubblehead figures of Brian Wilson

from the S.F. Giants


504 Golfland Gift Cards

504 admissions for all 504 teens to play at Golfland

mini-golf on Blossom Hill Road in San Jose


San Jose Women’s Club

300 sports bras to fill the girls’ totes


Grateful Garments

300 women’s panties

for girl’s totes


Kohl’s San Jose South

400 Lauren Conrad skin care products and colorful cosmetics.

Kayla Smith, Kohl’s store manager, is graciously thanked

for arranging this fun donation


Thrive Mascara $49,000

2,090 Mascaras from Thrive and colorful cosmetics

including lip balm, foundation, eyeshadow and hand cream worth  $49,000.

                                                                                      

Walmart Community Grant $1,500

The Walmart Community Grants Team and local store

# 5884 in Almaden selected GFT to receive a $1,500.00 gran                          

Thank you store Manager Gilbert Mendez t


Lush Cosmetics

Lush cosmetics for each girl valued at $7,000

Thank you Lush


Hand-made Knit Sets 

Many independent San Jose volunteer knitters are making beautiful caps for guys, hats for girls, both with matching scarves. These knitters donate  these warm beautiful sets each year


Channing House Hand Knitted Hats and Scarves Sets

Beautiful handcrafted matching scarves 

and hat sets for every girl’s gift




    2020 DONATIONS


Generous Donors sent wonderful gift items

and cash donations to kick-start the 2020 GFT donations


S.D. Trombetta Foundation $20,000

Diane Trombetta’s donation of $5,000

Many thanks for the many years of generous support from the

Trombetta Family


Bomba Socks

1,500 pairs of plush warm Bomba socks


Walmart  Community Grant

$1,000 for back packs bag contents 


SF Giants

120 duffel bags, 233 team Tee-shirts, 42 bobble-heads


Berts Bees

300 lip balms


Berts Bees

500 blush and brush sets for Girls


Target and Walmart Gift Cards

$25 Gift cards to either

Walmart or Target for needed food, clothes,

personal merchandise in all 2020 bag


Carl’s Jr. Meal Cards

400 Carl’s Jr. gift cards. Carl’s Jr again donated a hamburger meal gift card to add to all of the teens’ bags


Thrive Mascacra

2,090 Mascaras from Thrive, whose motto is

“Beauty with a Purpose” 


In-N-Out Burger Meal Vouchers

40 In-N-Out Burger gift cards, again donating a hamburger meal gift card to add to the teens’ bags

 

Tittle Nine

65 Sports Bras - new and very stylish, colorful and

excellent quality


Hand Knitted Hats and Scarves Sets

Beautiful handcrafted matching scarves 

and hat sets for every girl’s gift


    Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, and Whole Foods

Snack donations of energy bars

from Trader Joe’s, Sprouts, and Whole Foods.


Back Packs

200 sturdy back packs


Blankets

525 cozy blankets


Tee-shirts

400 Tee-shirts for guy teens


Girl’s Pairs of Socks

680 pairs of socks

681 pairs of fluffy socks


Lip Balm

600 lip balms for guys


Coloring Books

500 coloring books for every teen







 
For more information or to donate please contact Elaine elaine@gifts4teens.org or call (408) 268-9654http://elaine@gifts4teens.org
Gifts for Teens is sponsored by the American Association of University Women–San Jose (AAUW-San Jose) It is a tax exempt organization that has been working with teenagers in Silicon Valley since 1997http://www.aauwsanjose.org/
At holiday time several community organizations collect toys and gifts for younger children, but donations for teenagers are always low. This means many of the teens living below the poverty level in Santa Clara County will receive no gifts during the holiday season. Gifts for Teens brightens the holidays for many of these overlooked young people with special gift bags brimming with fun and practical items. The goal is to provide a holiday gift to homeless and low-income teenagers who may not have any special attention at this festive time. Each year Gifts for Teens volunteers gather donated items and gifts purchased with cash donations to fill girls totes and boys gym bags. These bags are given to needy teens living in San Jose. With support from a broad base of over 600 Silicon Valley volunteers, corporations, and community organizations approximately 1,500 bags are filled and given as presents. With each donation, Gifts for Teens can make the holidays special for over a thousand young people.http://livepage.apple.com/

Gifts for Teens

1997-2023

COVID-19

As we at Gifts For Teens continue to follow the California guidelines for the Covid-19                                                        we wish all our many wonderful community volunteers and donors good health. 

Gifts for Teens has not been idle! Currently we are collecting                                                                                                and buying  wonderful gifts for underprivileged teens. 

This year the need will be great. Our Gifts for Teens’ abundant bags will be                                                                   more appreciated by the low-income teenagers and homeless youth we serve!                           

2019 MAJOR DONORS SD Trombetta Fundation - $15,000 A donation of $15,000 to buy zippered sturdy nylon duffel and tote bags. Thank you for your many years of continued generous support. 2019 San Jose Sharks Foundation Grant December 50/50 Raffle - $8,035 Gifts for Teens was featured at the SJ Sharks game on December 14,2019 as a beneficiary of the 50/50 Raffle. GFT received $8,035 in cash from the Sharks Raffle. Hitachi Vantara - $8,000 to purchase heavy warm sweatshirts Farrington Historical Fundation - $8,800 A generous cash donation of $8,800 to buy zippered, hooded sweatshirts for teens in the winter. Los Gatos History Club - membership gave a generous $1,500 cash donation and volunteers to assemble bags. The Pajama Program - Donated hundreds of warm cozy guy and girl Pajamas collected at their festive “Brunch for the Big Kids” fundraiser held on September 7, 2019. San Jose Sharks - A much appreciated donation of 420 Bobble Head Figures giving teens the fun of collecting collectibles Sharks players figures. National Charity League - Local chapter moms and daughters contributed 230 socks, 300 cosmetics, many games and tees. N.C.L. is a Teen Daughter and Mom philanthropic group. CISCO - 1,055 T-shirts and polos KIND Bars - 960 KIND Granola Bars, yummy, chocolate and oats snacks Sacred Heart Community Service - 3,000 School Supplies and 200 back packs including school notebooks, pens, USB Drives, calculators, erasers, folders and more. Sacred Heart Community Service - 680 girl’s pajama sets. Fun summer weight animal print pj sets for the girls. Jay Paul Company - December Assembly site space at 100 West San Fernando Street. Thanks for this large downtown space.

   1997- 2022  25 YEAR ANNIVERSARY GIFTS FOR TEENS   

                 

                                         

From 1997 to 2022 GIFTS FOR TEENS has

supported needy Silicon Valley teenagers and 

families with lovely useful gifts for the holidays                                                                                                                                                               


We could not do this each year for 25

years without the continued support of our

amazing and loyal South Bay

community partners.


Thanks to all the community volunteers and

donors that make GFT possible and successful


       Thanks for 25 years of success serving thousands of needy teens


We continually thank our donors for their

generosity in donating the

special items

that fill our bags each year

 
100 Women Charitable Foundation Grant 2021 Award of $10,000 We are pleased to announce the 100 Women Charitable Foundation has named Gifts For Teens a finalist for a 2021 grant award of $10,000. Each year the 100 Women Charitable Foundation funds nonprofit organizations that support Education, Family, and Health and Wellness in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. Elaine Benoit, director of the Gifts for Teens committee said ”We couldn’t be happier to be a finalist. We are grateful for the Foundation selecting us for a $10,000 grant. This award demonstrates the 100 Women Charitable Foundation’s continuing care and support for local communities, families and youth suffering from poverty, addiction, or homelessness.” The members of 100 Women Foundation collectively voted on March 4th, 2022 selecting finalists and semi-finalists for the 2021grant. Find more details on 2022 News page.http://100womenfoundation.org2023_News_%26_Donors.html2023_News_%26_Donors.htmlshapeimage_7_link_0shapeimage_7_link_1

2022  600 Holiday Gift Bags

We assembled a total of 600 gift sport bags

valued at $456 each

filled with over 50 items in each bag.

312 totes for girls and 288 backpacks for guys

GFT cost was only a fraction per bag due to

generous donations   


Thank you Donors and Volunteers!