2025 Holiday Baskets

On Friday, November 21st and Saturday, November 22nd, VTO hosted their annual Holiday Basket Project. With the assistance of the community, Vista Fire and Rescue, TJ Crossman's Auto Repair, and numerous supporters and sponsors, we were able to assemble and deliver 200 holiday dinner baskets for Vista Unified School District families.

The fun began on Friday evening, as over 50 volunteers showed up to assemble the non-perishable boxes of food that would be delivered the next day. Boxes contained vegetables, gravy, cranberry sauce, yams, marshmallows, stuffing, cornbread mix, a 5# bag of potatoes, and additional food items. These were assembled, double-checked and staged for the next day's deliveries.

Saturday morning began early with a run to Costco for 200 pumpkin pies, then a trip to the Antique Gas and Steam Engine Museum to retrieve 200 turkeys from deep freeze. With the big items secured, we were ready to meet the two dozen delivery drivers who would be taking food to the community. Cars were loaded down with boxes, pies, and turkeys before the made their way out into the streets of Vista to deliver holiday cheer. The Vista Fire and Rescue crew, along with several board members and volunteers, stayed on site to distribute holiday baskets to those who needed to pick up in person.

A huge thank you to all of the organizations and individuals who made this year's event possible, and such a tremendous success:

Quick Check Smog - Uhaul Rental

Del Rey Avocado - Boxes

Frazier Farms - Potatoes

San Diego Food Bank - Turkeys

Hunter Industries - Grant support

Basket, assembled

Members of the Vista Fire Department building boxes

Giving knows no age or size limitations