How to find help for the holidays

COLORADO HOLIDAY GUIDE
BLACK FRIDAY DEALS
DENVER - Ann Jones had a big smile on her face as she walked down the aisle of green bags filled with vegetables, stuffing, bread and jars of gravy. She was picking up a Thanksgiving food basket for the first time.

"I've never been here before," she said.

Jones recently moved to Colorado from Louisiana to take care of her ailing mother. She is also searching for a job.

"I really appreciate them inviting me here," she said of the Volunteers of America's food basket giveaway.

Jim White, of Volunteers of America, says they're seeing a lot more people who are using the nonprofit organization's services for the first time.

"It's just going to be a rough year for a lot of families," he said.

This year, the demand for Thanksgiving baskets was so large that the organization added 500 more to its total number of baskets to be given away, bringing the total to 1,500. And office workers gave out all of those vouchers in just one day.

"We do an adopt a family program and we've already seen some heartbreaking stories of people who for the whole last year have been looking for work and maybe found part time work here and there," White said.

A lot of the people who are looking for help have called The United Way's hotline: 2-1-1. Dialing those three numbers can connect callers with a person who will tell them exactly where they can find help.

"You can get the list of the organizations who are offering Christmas baskets, toys and food," Mile High United Way Spokesperson Robert Thompson said.

However, Thompson added that a lot of those services have already filled up with clients.

"These things are going fast this year. We're being told by our partner organizations that the holiday help especially is going quickly," Thompson said.

He urges anyone needing help for Christmas to search and register for services now. Volunteers of America will hand out 2,000 vouchers for Christmas baskets on Dec. 7.

United Way's 2-1-1 hotline was created six years ago. It operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They provide year-round help from about 100 organizations in 11 counties. Answering more than 11,500 calls in a month, much of the information requested involves renter's assistance, heat assistance and health care. Information on resources is also available on the organization's Web site.

To search for services listed in Mile High United Way's 2-1-1 database, click: http://www.unitedwaydenver.org/site/c.rwL8KjNULrH/b.4771467/k.A2D4/211_database_includ.htm