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Turlock comes together for annual holiday charity
Turlock Together 1
Turlock Together volunteers help distribute the 1,200 boxes of food and toys at the Turlock Fruit Company on Saturday (Photo contributed).

The spirit of giving was in full effect Saturday at the Turlock Fruit Company as hundreds of Turlock Together volunteers spent the day handing out 1,200 boxes of food and toys to those in need.

“We get a lot done in one day. We serve a lot of people. It makes for a blessed Christmas,”  said Linda Murphy Julien, one of the founding coordinators of Turlock Together.

For the past 28 years, Turlock’s nonprofit organizations, churches, scout troups, service clubs, school groups, businesses and families have pooled their resources during the holiday season to make sure that every family in need gets food to eat and toys for their young children before Christmas.

Making this Christmas miracle happen takes hard work, dedication and crazy coordination for the hundreds of volunteers. 

“We had at least 200 in the last week from Boy Scouts to church groups, and a couple of school groups. They’ve been coming in in shifts and packing boxes,” said Murphy Julien. “We’re estimating at least 400 volunteers when this project is done. It’s been a God-send, people coming in wanting to help.”

Murphy Julien shared one story of a former student of hers from Julien Elementary who is now in college called up and asked if he could help out.

Turlock Together had a total of 1,100 families sign up to receive help. Murphy Julien said they made 1,200 boxes so they would have enough for any last-minute sign ups. Getting together enough food for 1,200 boxes was difficult she said, but two things really made a difference this year — the Central Valley Realtors Association and local farmers.

“We were really blessed, the Realtors CanTree did a dinner this year instead of breakfast and it seemed to be really fruitful,” she said. 

Last year, the CVAR and their CanTree Breakfast raised over $15,000 for Turlock Together. This year, the organization donated over $29,000, which went straight to the purchase of perishable food items like milk and cheese.

The food boxes this year also included fresh sweet potatoes thanks to donations from the Livingston Farmers Association.