Christmas, 2006
A friend of Joan Lawton’s heard about United Airlines
Project Christmas Stocking. Thinking this was a great
idea, Joan followed leads until she connected with
Denise Snavely who was spear-heading that project. With
a very short delivery time available, Joan contacted
some friends and, together, they pitched in.
At the end of January, 2007, Joan and Terri Eddings
wondered why only Christmas packages when the need was
so great.. Sealed With A Wish was born! Initially,
donations of items and money came from Joan and Terri’s
connections with the members of Hollywood’s Magic
Castle. Soon, they enlisted other friends throughout
Southern California and Las Vegas. In the blink of an
eye, they went from sending approximately 10 packages a
month to about 25 twice a month. A storage and packing
location has been donated by noted estate planning
attorney, Melvin J. Kreger.
Fifty packages a month are like grains of sand in the
desert but they are so appreciated!
Now, even more packages are being sent – thanks to
donations and volunteers.
For Christmas, 2008, SWAW sent nearly 100 packages,
many of which contained 5-6 stuffed Christmas
stockings. The boxes also included blank holiday cards
so that our troops would be able to send greetings to
their families. Afghanistan was the focus of the 2008
holiday shipments.
In December 2008, SWAW will move its storage and
shipping location to a studio located at the home of
Board member Linda Cervon. We thank Mr. Kreger for his
continued support.