Love at the Christmas Bureau: Married in May, the Guerrinhas are avid volunteers celebrating their first season as newlyweds

When the Christmas Bureau opens Dec. 12, it will be the first time that Joe and Laura Guerrinha volunteer together as husband and wife.

The Bureau is a collaboration between Catholic Charities, Volunteers of America and The Spokesman-Review to provide a grocery store voucher for families and singles in need, along with a toy and a book for each child in the home. It’s a massive effort that takes hundreds of volunteers to pull off, and the Guerrinhas are happy to have their names on the list.

Joe Guerrinha started volunteering with the Christmas Bureau in 2014 when he was still working. He would take a week of vacation each December so he could volunteer, and now that he’s retired, he’s there every day.

He and his wife met decades ago, when both were students at the same high school in Seaside, Oregon. She graduated in 1968, he in 1969.

“After high school, we became good friends,” Laura Guerrinha said. They both would move on to marry other people and have families, making them lose touch. But in 2014, when both of them were single, they reconnected.

At first, their relationship was long distance, since Laura Guerrinha still lived in Oregon. They would meet in the Tri-Cities to spend time together. After a couple years, she got the opportunity to move to Spokane.

“I was ready for a more serious relationship with him,” she said.

Joe Guerrinha volunteers regularly in the community, including at Second Harvest, and convinced Laura to sign up to volunteer at the Christmas Bureau in 2022.

“He had talked about it,” she said. “It sounded like fun.”

She was only signed up to volunteer for a couple days that year, but after her first shift, she went to organizers and said she’d be happy to come every day.

“That’s how much I enjoy the people and the kids coming through,” she said.

She has volunteered in several areas, but said she prefers helping people when they first come in.

“I like guiding people through, doing the intake,” she said.

Joe Guerrinha also does intake, but he has a unique job as well. He stands at the head of a long line of Bureau recipients, guiding them to computer stations as they open up. He does it all day, every day that the Bureau is open.

Joe Guerrinha said he likes putting people at ease and helping them relax.

“When you’ve been waiting two to three hours, sometimes it’s a little frustrating,” he said.

The two are looking forward to coming back to the Christmas Bureau again this year, especially since they were married in May.

“This year is special for us,” Joe Guerrinha said. “We get to volunteer as husband and wife.”

Both say they can’t imagine not helping out in the community.

“It just kind of becomes a way of life,” he said.

“You’re helping others,” Laura Guerrinha said. “You see how hard some people have it. We feel blessed we can get out and help.”

Donations

Some donations to the Christmas Bureau either arrive a few days late or trickle in all year. Some people even started sending donations in early November. Donations received before Thanksgiving total $47,391.68, bringing the year-to-date total to $68,696.68. The goal this year is to raise $600,000.

The Madeleine Muths Memorial Fund at the Innovia Foundation donated $24,030.80. According to Innovia, the fund was set up by longtime Spokane resident Raymond Muths, who died in 2015 at the age of 96. He named the fund, which supports the Christmas Bureau and four other charities annually, after his late sister.

Rick Betts donated $3,450.

The Dolph and Thelma Spalding Family Fund at the Innovia Foundation sent $3,000. Dupree Building Specialties donated $3,000.

The William A. Crosetto Charitable Foundation at the Innovia Foundation donated $2,595.88. The Guy and Ruth Reed Memorial Fund at the Innovia Foundation gave $2,325.

Joe and Jane Clements, of Spokane, contributed $1,500.

Wandermere Community Services donated $1,000. “We appreciate all the work that you do for the Spokane Community,” wrote treasurer Mark Hund.

Lee Sonderman, of Liberty Lake, contributed $1,000. Terry and Kathy Deno, of Spokane, also gave $1,000.

Anonymous Spokane donors gave $1,000 “as a contribution to the excellent work you do providing Christmas joy, food and gifts to assist families in our community. Because of your efforts, this is a better world.”

Micki Whitaker contributed $1,000 via PayPal.

Michael Pearson donated $500.

Bill and Wanda Podobnik donated $300. Marilyn Sturdevant, of Cheney, gave $300. Art Sturdevant, of Cheney, sent $300.

Lindsay Morgan, of Spokane, contributed $245.

The Heisey family, of Spokane, gave $200. An anonymous donor gave $200 through National Financial Services. Bill Molsberry sent $200 via PayPal.

Joseph Dunsmore donated $100 via PayPal.

Konny Sinton sent $50 via PayPal. Marcia Downing gave $40 via PayPal. Aaron Gallagher donated $10 via PayPal.

Judith Horton, of Coeur d’Alene, gave nine donations of $5 each.