Twenty themed Christmas tress complete with gifts sparkled around the Crystal Room at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello on December 2nd.

Members of Boy Scout Troop 2399 from Chino Hills walked around the room selling raffle tickets to the 260 guests who wanted to win one or more these great trees.

MERCI Executive Director Jillian Van Leuven welcomed the guests to the 29th Annual Trees of Enchantment Brunch. She is happy to kick off this special event. This is the 63rd Anniversary of MERCI.

She has spent the past 18 years working with mission driven organizations focused on making lasting changes for the underserved communities.

She has been steadily working with the MERCI Board of Directors on implementing new programs and services for MERCI while maintaining the greatness that has already been achieved.

Ms. Van Leuven thanked her staff for their support. They love the people they work with. She suggested that the guests buy raffle tickets for the wonderful trees decorated by her staff and their clients.

She thanked the guests for their generous donations to MERCI. They have a lot of donors. She thanked the Boy Scouts for volunteering their time today.

She said the door prizes would be awarded during the lunch.

Congressmember Judy Chu said she is very happy to see that MERCI is still going strong. She is so impresses with them. She has supported MERCI since 1988 when she sat on the Monterey Park City Council. She thanked Jillian Van Leuven for her many years of service to the community with a proclamation. You will bring MERCI to the next level. Monterey Park loves MERCI.

Jillian Van Leuven spoke about the new changes coming to MERCI that include a new logo. They can offer many new services to the clients in the area. MERCI support all of the people.

The MERCI Jinglers performed several Christmas carols to the delight of the crowd.

Boardmember Bobbi Bruesch said he has been a Boardmember for the last 15 years. They need more financial help to keep MERCI going.

Board President Rene Araiza thanked Judy Chu for attending their fundraiser today. She is a longtime supported of MERCI. He thanked Jillian Van Leuven for her service to MERCI. She has many more years to give to MERCI too. She is great for MERCI. They appreciate her. He thanked the Board, staff members, all of the sponsors and donors. He thanked the staff for their success. He thanked all of the guests for their support.

Board Secretary Christina Cisneros asked for people to volunteer to serve on the board.  They need dedicated Boardmembers. She thanked all of the guests for attending.

The 2018 Board of Directors: President Rene Araiza, Vice President Bobbi Bruesch, Secretary Christine Cisneros, Treasurer April Dominguez, Michael Woo and   Christine DeVito.

Bobbi Bruesch said MERCI means “Thank You”! He had a basket to collect additional donations. He said he would match each $100 donated to the cause with a $100 bill. He asked people to open their wallets to help him collect more money for MERCI.

His final count of these funds totaled $10,000.

Santa Claus was ready to greet his friends of all ages during the festivities.

Members of the Monterey Park Woman’s Club enjoyed the event.

The guests included members of the MERCI family, other local clubs and service organizations.

Young children helped to pick out the 20 lucky tickets as the guests waited to see if their number was called for the tree of their dreams.

Jillian Van Leuven thanked all of the guests for attending this special event and your support.

For more information on MERCI’s services or to volunteer or donate money please call MERCI at 626-289-8817 or visit their website: www.merci.org.

MERCI, Inc. is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, federal tax ID #95-2219917.