Sconza Chocolates and Oakdale Sportsmen’s Club recently partnered to fundraise for Guardian House, a local Children’s Crisis Center of Stanislaus County. Together, they set a fundraising goal of $2,000 to purchase books for children that benefit from the protective childcare and shelter services of Guardian House.

Both Sconza Chocolates and Oakdale Sportsmen’s Club were founded in 1939, and are proud to have shared efforts to raise money for a local non-profit organization.

Dave “Bubba” Bellington and Dennis Dias took on the fundraising task with the goal of raising $2,000 for Guardian House. Sconza Chocolates donated raffle prizes that included a candy basket, a certificate to a private tour of the factory, and candy for the Oakdale Sportsmen’s Club December Dinner. The club donated $500 that was raised at the dinner from member donations, bar tips, and profits from the dinner raffle and the OSC Pistol Section donated a $500 check. All of the proceeds of the dinner, raffles, donations, etc. were used towards buying books for children from ages one to 13.

On Dec. 23, representatives of the Oakdale Sportsmen’s Club and Sconza teams met at Guardian House to present the books. A special ‘thank you’ was given to Delanie Bellington for selecting all of the books that were donated. The book company matched 50 cents on every dollar spent on books, for a total value of $3,000 worth of books purchased. Sconza Chocolates and Oakdale Sportsmen’s Club officials said they were very proud of this joint effort and were excited to present the donations to Guardian House Founder, Elsie Martin and staff just in time for Christmas. Thanks to the contributions and efforts of both Sconza and OSC, the books will establish a Guardian House library for children.

This article was written and submitted by Dennis Dias, Sconza Sr. Production Manager and Oakdale Sportsmen’s Club Past President.