Joy of Christmas

More than 1,000 needy children will receive gifts thanks to generosity

It started 26 years ago when Gene Birk “lost” a dice game to some friends.

They had each pitched in $10 to help out a family that had lost everything in a fire at their South Tracy home around Christmas time. By virtue of losing, Birk was elected to deliver the gifts.

His life, and Christmas, was never the same.

“I gave the little girl a doll, and I can still remember the huge grin she had on her face,” Birk said. “She came over, hugged my leg and I was standing there blubbering.”

Birk said he was so moved he helped collect three more truck loads of things from around his house and his friends houses to donate to the family.

The next year, Brighter Christmas was born when Birk decided to help a few more families in need. And he’s been helping more families every year.

In 2004, more than 300 volunteers banded together to assist hundreds of Tracy families with upwards of 600 baskets of food and toys for 1,200 children. Birk, modestly, hopes to get close to last year’s record numbers. “The goal is to make sure every child gets a toy for Christmas,” Birk said.

The first two volunteer meetings for the Brighter Christmasfrom Valley 1

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