The holiday season is a time many of us anxiously await each year. We look forward to time off of work and school and cherish the opportunity to spend more time with our families. 

However, many low-income Americans face a very different reality during the winter months. Putting gifts under the tree and food on the table remains an obstacle for millions of families across the country. But in Truckee, California, a small town known for its harsh winters, the community has come together to make sure everyone can have a happy holiday season, regardless of their circumstances. 

For the past fifteen years, the nonprofit, all-volunteer group Truckee Community Christmas has been organizing food, coat and toy drives benefitting approximately 215 families, 120 seniors and 25 teenage moms and their babies each year. They coordinate the philanthropic efforts of local schools, churches, and community groups to ensure that donations are distributed fairly and reach families most in need. On Christmas morning, hundreds of children will wake up to age appropriate toys due to the groups efforts. 

This year, Truckee Community Christmas is using NationBuilder to reach more families than ever. By providing a way for the local charity to raise donations and recruit volunteers online, NationBuilder is helping them connect with more supporters and move them to action. Check out their new site here: truckeecommunitychristmas.com

“The service was recommended to us because you can donate right on the site. We think that's awesome and will make it so much easier for people to donate money to our organization, and it’s worked out really well so far," says Emma Shaffer, a volunteer with Truckee Community Christmas. Within a week of taking its NationBuilder site live, the Truckee Community Christmas nation had already received multiple donations. These donations are crucial, as they are used to provide grocery gift cards for those most in need. 

NationBuilder's user-friendly CMS helped Truckee Community Christmas to create a beautiful website without hiring a developer. “I have no coding or much web-building experience at all so it was really great because NationBuilder perfectly fit our needs,” says Emma, who designed the group's website.

With it's social media integration NationBuilder allowed the small nonprofit to instantly pull its existing supporters into its nation. “It's really great how [NationBuilder] can connect with Facebook and Twitter because we’ve already established ourselves on both sites, so now we can communicate with people who already know who we are.” With calendar and event pages Truckee Community Christmas has been able to more easily recruit volunteers to wrap presents and store donated food. 

Truckee Community Christmas's efforts serve as a great example of how organizations of any size can leverage technology to move people to action for the betterment of the community. The dedication of Truckee's citizens to their friends and neighbors serves as a reminder of the spirit of charity and giving that embody the holiday season.