Book of Dreams: See our holiday giving stories, donate to Stanislaus County agencies

It’s the time of year when we ask our readers for money.

The Modesto Bee’s annual A Book of Dreams publishes inside Sunday’s newspaper and is available online at www.modbee.com/bookofdreams.

In the 26 years since we started this fundraiser, our generous readers have contributed nearly $700,000 to various worthy efforts. You’ve provided care kits for cancer patients, built shelters and upgraded a ballpark.

(To donate, click here)

Dozens of local charities applied for participation in this year’s A Book of Dreams. Each one of them is a worthy cause. But we selected 10, and present them to you for your gift-giving consideration. This year, you can help remove a dam from the Tuolumne River that was intended to create a safe play area but has instead resulted in tragedy. You can provide a hot meal and a place to stay for people on the streets. You can help in efforts to give children a safe place to play and do homework after school.

And this year, for the first time, you can watch these agencies in action. Videos accompany each of the stories, so you can see the vital work these groups do on a daily basis, often with a shoestring budget.

We invite you to look through our stories, photos and videos and we again request your consideration for donations to any or all of the programs.

Sometimes, it doesn’t take a lot to make a dream come true. These agencies prove it every single day.

This story was originally published November 20, 2015 at 9:11 PM with the headline "Book of Dreams: See our holiday giving stories, donate to Stanislaus County agencies."