Redwood Credit Union (RCU) is inviting the community to give back this holiday season through its annual gift drive and a new porch-to-pantry food drive.

RCU has partnered with a nonprofit startup to launch an innovative model that makes it simple for anyone to make a difference. The program allows North Bay and San Francisco residents to donate food directly from their doorstep.

Community members are signing up to donate at any RCU branch or online. On Saturday, December 13, volunteers will pick up the shelf-stable foods from donors’ homes and deliver them to local food banks and pantries.

In addition, RCU’s 22 branches and RCU Auto Services are both accepting gift items through mid-December for holiday distribution by local nonprofit agencies. The following is where members are routinely donating and the local organizations that will benefit:

• Sonoma County branches — Picking up heart tags at any Sonoma County RCU branch or RCU Auto Services and returning wrapped gifts from November 28 to December 19, supporting the Center for Volunteer & Nonprofit Leadership (CVNL) Secret Santa Program. Donated gifts support children, teens, and seniors across Sonoma County.
• Marin County branches — Browsing wish list items at North Marin Community Services and dropping off new, unwrapped donations from November 28 to December 15 to support NMCS.
• Napa County branches — Dropping off new, unwrapped toys at any RCU branch in Napa County from November 28 to December 15, supporting Toys for Tots.
• Mendocino County branches — At Point Arena, dropping off a new, unwrapped gift at the RCU Point Arena branch November 28 through December 19  to support Project Santa (especially books for children between 10 and 16 years old). At Ukiah, donating gifts for infants through 18-year-olds from November 25 to December 22 to support the Ukiah Valley Christmas Effort.
• Lake County branch — Dropping off a new, unwrapped gift at the RCU Lower Lake branch November 28 through December 12  to support children in Lake County through Toys for Tots.
• San Francisco branch — Dropping off a wrapped gift at RCU’s San Francisco branch from November 28 through the week of December 15 to support APA Family Support Services (especially educational toys for children ages 8-12).

Last year, RCU distributed 947 gifts and collected 3,126 pounds of food — enough for 3,751 meals.

Building on last year’s success, RCU hopes to provide even more gifts and meals to North Bay and San Francisco communities this holiday season.