On December 18, SkyOne Federal Credit Union employees donatedgifts and blankets to Covenant House California, a non-profitorganization that reaches out to at-risk homeless youth living onthe streets and offers them hope and opportunities to turn theirlives around.

SkyOne's holiday tree at its Hawthorne, Calif., headquarters wasadorned with ornaments that represent the youth at the CovenantHouse. Each ornament contained a teen's name and gift wish list;SkyOne employees adopted them for the holidays by choosing anornament. Gifts ranged from towels and toothpaste to backpacks,headphones and baseball caps for the teens' favorite sports teams.A SkyOne employee even made it possible for one Covenant House teento attend a Lakers game with three lucky friends!

“Many of these kids have never even received a present orcelebrated the holidays,” Noel Russell, community involvementcoordinator for Covenant House California said. “Many of them grewup in foster care, and some of them have been living on the streetssince a very young age, so receiving presents for the holidays is adream come true.”

“Many of these kids lack even the basic necessities that weoften take for granted,” said Kathy Cunico, a SkyOne employee whoco-organized the donation drive along with fellow employee SandraJenkins. “The support and participation everyone showed trulywarmed my heart. Once we started going through the teens' wishlists, we noticed that almost all them wished for a blanket, so wecollected donations from employees and business partners to providea blanket to all the kids to keep them warm thiswinter.”

The donation drive continues SkyOne's tradition of communitysupport.

President/CEO Eileen Rivera added, “I'd like to thank our staffand business partners for embracing the spirit of giving. It'sespecially important during the holidays to give back to our localcommunities. It was our pleasure to support Covenant HouseCalifornia, and to support the at-risk youth in our community. Wewish them a happy and safe holiday season.”