Throughout the month of December, the Trail Blazers team, coaches, staff, broadcasters and other partners will dedicate their efforts to brightening the Holiday season for children and their families in our community.

Projects include distributing 1,000 Christmas trees to charity organizations and low-income families; sponsoring a Christmas tree ornament drive; hosting Head Start students, seniors and local veterans to a holiday breakfast; collecting food to needy families; collecting winter coats to benefit the Salvation Army Coats for Kids program; adopting Albina Head Start Classrooms, delivering presents and clothing to preschoolers prior to Christmas break; supporting the Les Schwab/KGW Toy Drive; and hosting a "Holiday Reading Time Out" at Doernbecher Children's Hospital.

Trail Blazers players, coaches, Blaze the Trail Cat, Santa, Trail Blazers staff, and the Trail Blazers Booster Club held a holiday party at the Rose Quarter on Tuesday, December 7, 2004 from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Trail Blazers Community Builders distributed over 1,000 trees donated by Visions Unlimited Tree Farm in Albany, Oregon to needy families in the Portland community.

The day long holiday event included the distribution of trees in partnership with organizations that service children and families identified as critically low-income and the distribution of tree ornaments to compliment the tree donations.

"This is fun, I love being around the kids when they pick out a tree. The whole team is out here today and it's great that the organization makes a committment to the community like this," said Ratliff. "I wish I'd been a boy scout though, I could tie these trees on top of cars better if I knew those fancy knots they teach you," he said.

The event also hosted a breakfast at the Rose Quarter Christmas Tree lot for 800 Head Start students, Veterans and seniors and collecting food donations to benefit local underserved families. The first 100 people who donated 10 pounds of food or more received a free Christmas tree.

The day washighlighted with performances from Portland Public School choirs in the morning and the Salvation Army Brass Band in the early evening.