Residents of Lakeview Village Mobile Home Park held their annual Teddy Bear Luncheon on December 7. Following lunch they presented the Citrus Heights Police Department with hundreds of teddy bears and other stuffed animals as they meet the children during their working days and nights. Residents, Mayor Tim Schaefer, City Manager Ash Feeney and other City and Police personnel attended. Photo courtesy of CHPD

CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - Lakeview Village Mobile Home Park in Citrus Heights hosted their annual Teddy Bear Luncheon on December 7.  Following the famed and much-anticipated luncheon, Lakeview residents presented the Citrus Heights Police Department (CHPD) with a large variety of teddy bears and other stuffed animals to distribute to children in Citrus Heights during the holidays.

Several huge bags with hundreds of stuffed animals collected for months were donated. Resident and board member Carol Spiker, who moved there two years ago with husband Paul, recalled that from their first visit to the Lakeview office at the beginning of a teddy bear collection, to days before the luncheon, their numbers grew rapidly until the office was so full of bears and other stuffed creatures there was not a lot of room to move.

She said one of the main reasons they chose Lakeview was this kind of community involvement and the welcome they received even before they had moved there.

Per Larissa Aguilar, Public Information Officer for the CHPD, “The community coming together during the holiday season is truly what the spirit of the holidays is all about, and we are so fortunate to have amazing people like the ones at Lakeview Village in Citrus Heights!”

CHPD Commander Kristopher Frey spoke in front of the group this year. In an email and speaking on behalf of the Citrus Heights Police Activities League (PAL) as president. He said, “The Lakeview Village Teddy Bear Luncheon is one of my favorite holiday events. It’s an opportunity to sit with the residents of Lakeview Village and engage in togetherness. I am so grateful for the warm welcome, the amazing food the residents prepare, and the hundreds of teddy bears donated. The teddy bears are not only given out during the holiday season, but also placed in the back of police vehicles for officers to provide to young victims of crimes to help bring comfort to their situations. On behalf of CHPAL, I am also grateful for the annual donation Lakeview Village Mobile Home Park makes to the program which assists in funding events for our youth.”

Contributors: Larissa Aguilar, CSO, Office of the Chief; Carol Spiker, member of Association Board of Lakeview Village