FGT Elves Workshop

We're all over the 'net!

2009-03-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

Are you a fan of the Family Giving Tree? Join us online! We’ve set up our brand new Facebook page and we’d love for you to check us out. Special pictures, videos, events and updates are added every week.

We’ve also created a public page on LinkedIn, the leading professional networking site online. Members can add FGT to their list of groups and associations and participate in discussions about issues that matter to them.

FGT tweets too! If you have a Twitter account, become a FGTTweets follower and join the real-time short messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices.

We're not done yet...the Family Giving Tree has it's own channel on YouTube as well. We've uploaded several videos, slide shows, PSAs and more and we'd love to hear what you think.

Phew! As over whelming as all this may seem...the ability to keep our supporters connected year-round is very important to us. We produce relevant material and we welcome all feedback.

Become an Elf...join us online!

Queen Elf Update

2009-03-11T13:21:00.000-07:00

It's been 7 weeks since the surgery and all is well. At 6 weeks they announced the xrays were "perfect" and removed the Morphine like patch. Unfortunatley, without asking, Jenn also stopped taking all the other drugs kaiser had perscribed and spent 4 days in great distress. With that all out of the way she is completely drug free and on to Physical Therapy and rebuilding her strength. So far her back pain levels have gone from a norm of 7 out of 10 on the pain scale to a 2, and many hours to ZERO! She is thrilled with the decision to have the surgery and has lots of feedback for Kaiser on pre-op and post-op intructions :) The Doctor expects to allow her to go back to work April 13th, Jenn is thinking a bit sooner.

Thanks so much for all the good thoughts and prayers!

International Women's Day

2009-03-06T16:43:00.000-08:00

In celebration of International Women's Day on March 8th, the Family Giving Tree would like to recognize a few incredible women for their outstanding support of our programs. We’ve created a page on our website to celebrate volunteers because the individual contributions of each of these women are so tremendous. Their combined efforts are vital to our programs and their constant enthusiasm helps brighten the holidays of thousands of children every year. On behalf of the children, thank you for your dedication! Check out the outstanding accomplishments of Cristina Piasecki, Aura Vega, Diane Trevino, Julie Neff, and Joan Scott by clicking here.

Queen Elf Surgery Update

2009-02-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

Jennifer, Queen Elf is recovering nicely and doing her best to follow doctor's orders. This has proven difficult as she definitely likes being more active and involved than not. She had a post-op checkup last week, and the doctor said everything looked good! They took out the stitches (apparently not much fun) and told her to keep taking it easy. We are encouraging her to take her time and rest. The Elves are busily wrapping up the holidays and winding down from the annual celebration luncheon. We miss her dearly but are doing well and hope that Jenn can be patient and not come back to work before she's ready! She did come in to the office last week; probably to make sure we were all still working! We had a chance to give her the "Get Well Soon Quilt" (signed by all the Elves) that Elf Andrea, Elf Dianne and Elf Susan made by hand. She really liked it! There will be an appointment in about 4 more weeks to take x-rays and see how Jenn's bones are looking at that point.

The Elves will keep you posted!

Pain Free Future?

2009-01-10T13:38:00.000-08:00

well, after 15 years of trying to become eligible for spine surgery the day has finally come. Monday the 12th I will have two of my 3 bad discs fused. I told the surgeon that I would be his star patient... quick recovery and awesome results.. only thing is that I've never been good at doing nothing.

I also can't imagine not being at the office with the other elves for 8 to 12 weeks. I will certainly miss them. We really are a great Elf family!

Maybe worrying about this stuff is helping me not worry about the event itself. I'm really not worried about the 6 to 8 hour surgery.. just the not having Diet Coke for a week. :)

If anyone has any good thoughts left after our insane December send them our way.

Hugs, Jennifer, queen elf

We did it!

2009-01-04T23:56:00.000-08:00

When the national economic downturn threatened to endanger the Family Giving Tree's Holiday Wish Drive, the Elves were nervous. So many of our major corporate contacts had lost their jobs, several large donors pulled out of our main fund raising event, and it was looking as if we were not going to find a warehouse large enough to run the program. Yet somehow, from within this cloud, we all pulled through...and the Elves couldn't thank our supporters more. With more than 1,000 Giving Tree locations (the 1st time we've gone above 1k), we were able to provide 58,000 children with a brand new gift; far above the goal we set! One of the social service agencies we work with sent us this picture of a girl receiving her gift...she loved her Disney Tea Set! For updates, pictures and complete stats, sign up for our monthly e-newsletter at www.familygivingtree.org now.

Our "Needle in a Haystack" moment

2008-12-19T17:38:00.000-08:00

Elf Celeste got a call in the office on Wednesday from a frazzled donor with a nearly-impossible request. Could we please retrieve from the Elves Workshop (filled with more than 30,000 gifts at this point) the diamond necklace and earring set for her daughter that was accidentally included with her company's shipment of donated gifts a couple days prior?

A tiny white box you say? Somewhere in our 100,000 square foot space? Please see picture above, taken on Saturday.

In what is now known as Holiday Miracle #2 (#1 was finding a warehouse in the first place), WE FOUND IT! One of our amazing volunteers approached Elf Nana about a very nice gift, obviously over the $30 limit, that she was about to wrap for a child. She asked "Do you think these diamonds are real?"...and in an instant Nana had run back to the office in tears, box in hand, screaming "I found them!".

Needless to say, our frazzled donor (and all the Elves on the hunt) were relieved!

CEOs on Tricycles!

2008-12-19T16:58:00.000-08:00

What a crazy day at the Elves Workshop! This year's Executive Elf Challenge proved that you're never too big to act like a kid AND give back to your community at the same time. Lisa Kim, from NBC11 joined us again and offered herself up for auction. The team with the highest donation bid had the privilege of having Lisa on their team and NetApp came prepared! With a bid of $10,000 to the Family Giving Tree, Lisa was an honorary NetApp Executive for the morning.

Our first event was wrapping; teams had 10 minutes to wrap as many books as they could. In the second competition, teams had 10 minutes to make a gingerbread house from a variety of "Elf Approved" items such as graham crackers, frosting, candies, wafer cookies, etc. And finally, the third competition was a tricycle race. Grown men and women on tiny tots trikes...enough said!

Congratulations to the EEC 2008 Champions...Wells Fargo!

(yes...that's Lisa Kim on a tricycle AND wrapped up like a present!)

The Littlest Elf

2008-12-13T21:14:00.000-08:00

Dave Mock, of the Nation of Men, has been bringing his daughter Jannina to volunteer at the FGT Warehouse every year for the last four years; an amazing commitment given the fact that Jannina is only 7 years old! You can always find her next to "the big pile" of incoming gifts making sure each present has a wish card securely attached, and she won't hesitate to help fellow volunteers find what they're looking for. Jannina says being an elf is one of her favorite things to do every year, and we couldn't be happier to have her! An Elf no bigger than the pile of gifts behind her...so cute!

The Elves are blogging!

2008-12-07T20:23:00.000-08:00

Our Workshop can be found in the middle of the Silicon Valley, so it only seems fitting that the Family Giving Tree Elves should have their own blog, right? So here we go...our first blog post ever!

We're one week away from opening our 100,000 square foot warehouse to start receiving more than 50,000 gifts destined for under priveledged children in our community. We will have two weeks to collect, sort, (check our list twice) and distribute these gifts! Sounds exciting right? It is! We're going to keep updating this blog throughout the process, and we'd like to hear from you too.

If you've hosted a drive, donated money, or volunteered with the Elves...we want to know how much fun you've had. Add your comments to our blog, link to your own pictures and let's keep this going!

We believe philanthropy is an important value; it can be taught during childhood, encouraged in the workplace or shared with friends. To learn more about the Family Giving Tree, check out our website at http://www.familygivingtree.org/.