The prolonged recession has driven more people than ever in north and east King County to seek Redmond-based Hopelink’s help. Requests for Hopelink’s assistance will intensify during the holiday season as families barely able to cover life’s basic necessities will need Hopelink’s help to put a festive meal on the table and surprise their children with holiday gifts.

To meet these needs, Hopelink is asking the community to be generous with its donations of food, new toys and clothing and cash contributions this holiday season.

Hopelink’s wish list for donated nonperishable food includes the same staples that are needed year-round: canned fish, canned meals (chili, stew), rice, pasta, canned fruit, peanut butter, cereal, baby food, tomato products, 100 percent juice, cooking oil, potatoes and onions.

Hopelink’s food banks also welcome donations of festive holiday foods such as baking mixes, flour, sugar, cranberry sauce, pumpkin, yams and stuffing.

Hopelink’s gift rooms are available to pre-registered clients who are parents and grandparents. They can “shop” at their neighborhood Hopelink center, selecting gifts to make the holidays happier for their children or grandchildren.

Please consider donating toys, books, games and other gifts for children of all ages; gift cards for book stores and toy stores; and items specifically for teens, such as music players, jewelry and sports equipment.

New clothing for children ages newborn to 18 is also welcome, but particularly so for high school-age children. Gift cards for Old Navy, Target, Fred Meyer, and the Gap are great ways to donate clothing for older children.

Please include only new, unwrapped items in your donation. Cash donations will be used to purchase additional items for categories not already filled by “in-kind” donations.

Companies, organizations and families can share their giving spirit in a number of ways, by including a request for donations when inviting guests to a holiday party, or hosting a giving tree. For information, visit www.hope-link.org.

Hopelink’s centers are accepting holiday donations on the following schedule:

• Redmond: 16225 NE 87th Street, Building A.

Accepting donations through Dec. 19, weekdays, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sat., Dec. 19, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Foods especially needed in Redmond: plain pasta, canned vegetables, canned fruits, canned meals including chili.

For more information, contact Scott Milne at (425) 882-0241.

• Bellevue: 14812 Main Street.

Accepting donations through Dec. 19, weekdays 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. and Sat., Dec. 19, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Foods needed in Bellevue: baby items, primarily formula and infant fruit, canned fruit, canned meat including tuna.

For more information, contact Gerald Wright at (425) 943-7555.

• Kirkland/Northshore: 11011 120th Ave. NE, Kirkland.

Accepting donations through Dec. 19, weekdays 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. and Sat., Dec. 19, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Foods needed in Kirkland/Northshore: canned peaches, canned pineapple, canned fruit cocktail, applesauce.

For information, contact Teresa Andrade at (425) 889-7880.

• Shoreline: Aurora Square, 15809 Westminster Way North.

Accepting donations through Dec. 21, weekdays, 9 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Foods needed in Shoreline: canned and dry beans (black, kidney, pinto), canned fruit, soup, infant formula.

For more information, contact Leslie Brooks at (206) 440-7300.

• Sno-Valley: 31957 E. Commercial Street, Carnation.

Accepting donations through Dec. 19, weekdays, 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. and Sat., Dec. 19, 10 a.m.-noon.

Foods needed by Sno-Valley: canned meals, canned meat, including tuna, canned fruit, infant formula.

For more information, contact Debra Stusser at (425) 333-4163.

HOPELINK’S ‘TWELVE DAYS OF GIVING’

Hopelink is also using the power of social media to reach out to the community this holiday season with a new program called “Twelve Days of Giving.” Hopelink is asking all of its Facebook, Twitter and E-News followers to send an email to their friends, family and contacts to ask for a small donation of $12 to support Hopelink and the Twelve Days of Giving campaign, Dec. 1- 12.

If just 12 Hopelink supporters reach out to 12 others to make a $12 donation, Hopelink programs will be $1,728 stronger. Repeated daily over the 12 days of the campaign, Hopelink could realize more than $20,000 to support its many programs.

With need up and overall donations down, this would significantly increase the agency’s ability to ease suffering during, and after, the holidays for even more families. For more information about Twelve Days of Giving, go to www.hope-link.org and click on the Twelve Days of Giving banner at the top of the page.

For more information about Hopelink’s many holiday programs, go to www.hope-link.org and click on the “Holidays at Hopelink” button.