H-S-GasCo-Bfast: (l-r) Tony Tartaglia, Carol Wade, Santa aka Mike Maslowski, Lance Ostrowski, Mike Galper, Renee LaBran and Julie McCarty. Photo courtesy Hathaway-Sycamores
Every holiday season for the past 31 years, dozens of Southern California Gas Company employees and friends have been cooking a pancake breakfast and playing Santa Claus for children served by Hathaway-Sycamores. This year, the Gas Co. group not only provided breakfast and toys to the 32 boys in the residential treatment program and dozens of families in the Foster Family and Adoption Program, they presented Hathaway-Sycamores with a check for $2,500.00 to help fund the agency’s work in these critical areas.
The annual event was started at The Gas Company’s Pasadena Customer Service office by an employee as a tribute to the kindness of strangers that he and his family once received. Three decades later, this tradition of selfless giving continues as this past Saturday, some 25 employees, along with their friends and kids, showed up early with groceries in hand, and cooked a breakfast of pancakes, sausage and eggs for the boys, foster familes and staff. They also brought holiday gifts as a result of a company toy drive from the Pasadena Gas Company office, fulfilling specific items from the boys’ wish lists. The gifts include MP3 players, football jerseys, CD boomboxes, remote control cars and watches, basketballs, alarm clocks, helicopters, skateboards, clothing and gift cards.
For more information about Hathaway-Sycamores Child and Family Services, visit http://www.hathaway-sycamores.org/.
