It won’t be long until the joy of the holidays gives way to the sting of tax season. But a special, free, tax preparation service offered by Puente helps the medicine go down – and even leave a pleasant aftertaste.

Puente’s program, now in its 5^th year, helps low-income South Coast residents prepare hassle-free tax returns through Earn It! Keep It! Save It!, a regional program sponsored by United Way. The service is offered free of charge.

The best part: participants walk in the door convinced they’ll have to part with a large chunk of their income. Many of them are delighted to discover that they qualify for substantial tax refunds, says Rita Mancera, Program Director for Puente.

Last year Puente helped 59 participants file their taxes, resulting in refunds totaling $73,608.

For a large family getting by on a farmworker’s salary, that’s very encouraging news.

“Their income is very low, and things are very expensive in California,” says Mancera. “Even if you go to Safeway for groceries, everything is more expensive than if you go to one of the Mexican stores. I think it’s important that they keep every dollar they can and that it stretches as far as it can.”

Take Samantha [name changed to protect privacy], a local mother who filed her taxes for the first time last year with Puente. She was enrolled in college and her education, along with a large number of dependents, qualified her family for a whopping $8,000 in tax refunds.

“They were very surprised,” says Mancera. “They didn’t know what the education credits meant to them until we helped them prepare their tax return.”

Half the people who file taxes with Puente don’t have Social Security numbers, but they still have to file taxes. This group of people uses ITINs, or Individual Tax Preparation Numbers, to meet their tax obligations. Puente is one of the only tax preparers on the Peninsula that offers this service, according to Mancera.

“For the purposes of tax time, everyone is considered a resident,” she says.

Now Puente needs YOUR help. Puente needs a few volunteers to prepare taxes for your South Coast neighbors. The job entails 3 hours of work per week during tax time, and a 15-hour self-guided training to get qualified. To volunteer, please contact Abby Mohaupt no later than January 11 at amohaupt@mypuente.org or 650.879.1691.

Of all the monthly gifts Puente could ask for, none are less glamorous than diapers. But for Léonie Walker, that may be part of the appeal. Puente’s resident “Diaper Donor” has single-handedly purchased diapers for Puente’s South Coast families for four years straight.

“It’s so much more fun to go out and buy diapers than it is to write a check,” enthuses Walker, who lives in Portola Valley with her spouse (and fellow Puente supporter) Dr. Kate O’Hanlan.

Walker makes one trip per month to Costco to purchase a load of diapers, which are delivered to Puente.

Diapers are expensive, even at Costco. Walker’s extraordinary generosity tallies $5,000 per year – that’s $20,000 for four years of diaper runs.  She also makes occasional financial contributions to Puente.

Walker and O’Hanlon have a long history of philanthropy. They have a donor advised fund at Horizons Foundation and give generously to organizations that focus on LGBT human rights and the rights of women and girls. Walker is a past member of the Board of Directors of Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and The Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center in New York.

But the work they do for Puente feels different, says Walker.

“Puente feels closer and more connected to me than the organizations we support in different cities. We feel like we’re making a visceral difference,” she says.

They are, says Puente Executive Director Kerry Lobel.

“Kate and Léonie are a steady presence in the lives of hundreds of children who will never know their names,” attests Lobel. “For Léonie, the diapers are a meditation, a belief that one simple gesture, repeated over and over again, can literally bring comfort to those she will never meet.”

Walker is a longtime friend of Lobel’s and she takes the time to endorse Puente at every opportunity – even in the checkout line when she’s buying diapers.

“Somebody will give me a look and say, ‘Do you run a daycare center?’ – and I get to tell them about Puente,” laughs Walker. “I’ve had people hand me a twenty and say, ‘This is for the organization.”

To make a donation to Puente, contact Kerry Lobel at klobel@mypuente.org or 650.879.1691 x144.

Puente needs a few volunteers to prepare taxes for your South Coast neighbors. The job entails 3 hours of work per week during tax time, and a 15-hour self-guided training to get qualified. To volunteer, please contact Abby Mohaupt no later than January 11 at amohaupt@mypuente.org or 650.879.1691.