The sun hadn’t yet risen at iHeartRadio in San Diego, but the gifts were already stacking up for one family in need.
Just before dawn on Dec. 2, “Little” Tommy Sablan and 100 supporters, including members of our Cali BBQ family, helped bring the Christmas spirit to a mom and her four children who are living in a motel right now.
The team of well wishers filled the family’s motel room that day with toys, board games, backpacks, blankets, gift cards and more. Cali Comfort BBQ provided barbecue for everyone too. We were happy to help.
Off the air, Tommy Sablan and iHeartRadio also help numerous other families each holiday season.
It’s important to give back to others and it’s something we care about deeply at Cali BBQ.
“It’s all about giving back, it’s all about helping our neighbors,” Tommy Sablan said during a KUSI News broadcast early that morning. “Who are we to judge where this woman lives. Who are we to say, ‘hey, get out of here.’ Because I’ll tell you right now. There’s more love in that little room than I’ve ever seen.”
Breaking and Entering Christmas Tradition
Tommy Sablan’s Breaking and Entering Christmas tradition has been going on for more than two decades. This year the team received 200 letters asking for help.
It was the older boy in the family who wrote in to tell the story of his mom and three little sisters who were living out of a small hotel room.
“I’m 17-years-old and I don’t want anything for myself. I just want my family to have a wonderful Christmas like you see in the movies, the teenager wrote.
“I can close my eyes and see a beautiful home with beautiful gifts, a beautiful tree, beautiful clothes, beautiful food, everything. But when I open my eyes it’s not that way at all. We don’t have a home.”
When our friend Tommy Sablan sent us the audio recording of this year’s Breaking and Entering Christmas letter from Star 94.1 FM and asked for our help, we jumped at the opportunity to give back to a local family in need.
That morning was an incredibly heart-warming experience. Seeing the amount of love and gifts that were poured onto this mother of four was inspiring. The son who wrote in the letter had a lot of courage to tell his family’s story.
Watching Tommy Sablan coordinate that day was a thing of beauty. He really cares. He jumped from live radio, to Secret Santa coordinator, to tailgate captain, to live TV interviews on KUSI.
We at Cali BBQ Media can’t wait to share our upcoming podcast with Tommy Sablan about the origins of this amazing charitable event. Look for it on Christmas.
Thank you to everyone who helped make that morning such a special day.
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One Response
hello, how can I buy a gift and donate to the families? I keep seeing you on KUSI and would like to buy something maybe on Amazon but not sure what to buy and ship? Thank you!