Tahoe Magic extends gratitude to those who say "yes" to fill needs of the community

As 2022 comes to a close, Tahoe Magic would like to sincerely thank our community for the partnership we have had with you for more than 28 years. Tahoe Magic became a certified 501c3 nonprofit organization in 1994. For many years, Tahoe Magic orchestrated a very large Christmas present-giving event for up to 600 children annually in our South Shore communities.

Our local schools would identify the families that could benefit from a Christmas of “magic” and volunteers would visit the schools, meeting with and helping students write their Christmas list for Santa. At a fun holiday party, families had the opportunity to choose a family and then purchase the gifts off their list. The unwrapped gifts were returned to Tahoe Magic and the next job was enlisting about 100 volunteers that came together for a long weekend at LTCC to wrap and tag over 1000 gifts, all from Santa. Santa and his elf volunteers then visited the family residences on December 22 or 23rd and presented these families with a truly magical Christmas. It was an incredible experience for all and many snowy, snowy nights for Santa and his elves! Also, exhausting!

Our community, truly many of you, made this happen. Tahoe Magic continued to serve our community this way, with occasional individual asks until 2008 when we entered a recession. Tahoe Magic realized that we were giving gifts and visiting some homes that had furniture, and no heat or electricity. Tahoe Magic then changed its mission to provide one-time financial crisis to families in need throughout the year, working not only with the schools but with more than 20 social service agencies, both governmental and non-profit who identify the need and apply to Tahoe Magic for the needs of their clients.

Tahoe Magic’s mission has remained the same, helping families in crisis through referrals from our partners. The crisis need grew exponentially three years ago as COVID and the Caldor Fire evacuation hit our families very hard. The positive response to these two events brought greater donations, fundraising proceeds, and grants. As a result, Tahoe Magic was able to meet the need. 2022 has been another year of greater need than before the pandemic as families have struggled to meet the higher costs of essential needs, recover from the effects of not working, having COVID, and more.

As we reflect back, it is with incredible gratitude to businesses, foundations, neighbors, and individuals that Tahoe Magic can continue to say “Yes” to those families that qualify, to our most fragile families with children.

Every person deserves a little magic in their life. Magic brings hope, respite, and peace. Some families need that magic more than we will ever know. To learn more about Tahoe Magic, visit Tahoemagic.org