LAS VEGAS — Top 100 retailer Walker Furniture’s “Home For the Holidays” program hit its 30th year of helping families and individuals in Clark County, Nev., This year.
“Our annual Home for the Holidays program for the past 30 years has been life altering for folks who for a myriad of unfortunate situations have found themselves in distress and needing furniture,” said Larry Alterwitz, owner. “This is an opportunity for the community to be involved by sending a letter explaining a family or person’s situation.”
Community partners help with the program. Nonprofit Helping Hands reads the letters and visits homes to be sure there is a true need. An executive committee comprised of Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman, community leaders, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue and local media personalities make the final selection. Star Nursery provides a live tree, decorations and money collected from employees, customers and other vendors for each recipient. Las Vegas Rescue Mission brings in toys, food and assistance for a year.
“I see a kind of magic begin to happen to recipients,” said Alterwitz. “What starts out as a dining room table suddenly becomes a sense of hope and pride. A sofa comes through the front door and is transformed into respect. A bedroom set changes a room into a place of inspiring dreams and endless possibilities.”
Deliveries began this week to recipients of a houseful of new furniture.
Brock Leavitt’s friend sent a letter explaining his situation. Leavitt is a disabled Army combat medic veteran who did a two-year tour in Afghanistan. He and family recently moved to Las Vegas, where he was able to get a home but couldn’t afford furniture. Walker furniture provided this family with kitchen, living room and bedroom furniture for the parents and two boys. Leavitt was overwhelmed and commented, “God works in mysterious ways.”
Home For The Holidays is Walker Furniture’s largest annual charitable endeavor. Since beginning in 1994 giving away 12 households of furniture, the program quickly went up to 35 households and has furnished more than 1,000 homes.