By Dan McCarthy
Mail

Stephanie Philpot calls Salt River Project part of the army behind The Salvation Army.

“Because of this community support, we will be able to provide toys to nearly 350 families in need in the Chandler and Gilbert area whose kids might not otherwise have presents under the tree this Christmas,” said Philpot, captain of the Salvation Army Chandler Corps Community Center.

SRP is celebrating 30 years of partnership with The Salvation Army’s Christmas Angel Program, a milestone that also represents a record-breaking year for SRP employees, who adopted the largest number of children and families in the company’s history, according to  a release from the Tempe-based utility.

“SRP employees donate their own money and time through the Christmas Angel Program to help ensure thousands of local children experience the joy of the holidays,” the release stated.

“For three decades, SRP has been an essential partner in making our Christmas Angel Program a success,” Jeannette Aird, The Salvation Army Phoenix city administrator, said.

“From purchasing toys for hundreds of children to helping us collect donated gifts from malls across the Valley, their support is invaluable. We simply couldn’t do it without them.”

SRP is also supporting the program by providing trucks and employees to pick up Christmas Angel toy donations from five malls and donation sites across the Valley.

The donations will go to The Salvation Army’s warehouse for distribution. The effort began Nov. 25 and will continue through Dec. 18 to make sure gifts arrive on time, according to SRP.

“This program is possible thanks to SRP and its employees who volunteer their time and resources to bring holiday joy to families in need,” Jackie Terry, senior volunteerism and employee giving strategist at SRP, said.

Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as those meet our  Civility Guidelines.

Dan McCarthy
Web content

dmccarthy@iniusa.org

Meet Dan
Dan McCarthy joined Independent Newsmedia as web content editor after a 40-plus year career as a reporter and editor in New Jersey and Arizona. During his time in Arizona, he has been an editor of daily and weekly papers in Tempe, Scottsdale, Chandler, Ahwatukee, Sun City, Sun City West, Surprise, Peoria and Glendale. Prior to moving to Arizona in 1984, when he was hired to be assistant city editor at the Tempe Daily News, he covered regional police/fire news, municipal, county and state governments in New Jersey, the latter as bureau chief at the state Capitol.

Community: He has served on several boards over the years, including the Tempe Community Action Agency and the Tempe St. Luke’s Hospital Board of Governors. He is a graduate of the Tempe Leadership and Scottsdale Leadership programs, serving as media adviser for subsequent classes of Tempe Leadership.

Education: Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism. 

Random Fact: Set winter/summer track records in the 60-, 100- and 220-yard dashes at his high school in New Jersey. 

Hobbies: Tai chi, cooking, dining at his must-eat-once places around the U.S. and the Cincinnati Reds, his favorite team since 1961.