Christmas Gift Program

YOUR GIFT BRINGS JOY TO CHILDREN ON CHRISTMAS MORNING!

We never meet the children we serve, so we can only imagine their faces when they wake Christmas morning to presents under the tree.  Here’s how we make that happen.

At the start of the school year, our volunteer board creates an amazing list of all the popular gifts and puts them in the invitation.  We have the invitations printed and we distribute them to the local school administrators.  The invitations are mailed out anonymously to local families in need, and all they have to do is choose from the list and mail the invitations back!  In November we tally all the invitations and order gifts.  At the end of November, once everything has arrived, we package up the gifts and get ready for the distribution. We also set up donation boxes throughout the community.  Teams of volunteers clean and then sort through the used toy donations to make certain all the pieces are included and that the mechanical toys work.    We also conduct our annual appeal for cash contributions to fund our direct purchase of new toys and books at discount prices.

We coordinate with schools, child-care centers, and social service agencies such as Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to distribute invitations to families who qualify for our program.   The invitation process is entirely anonymous – we don’t know who qualifies.  The families who receive an invitation choose from a list of gifts, and mail it back to us.  We order the gifts and package them up for the distribution.  Usually the first week of December we have our distribution days. When parents arrive at our site, they let us know they have arrived via text message and we bring the parents their pre-packaged bag of gifts via curbside delivery.  We also have limited availability on Stocking Stuffers, Freebies, and Hats and Gloves.

Because we protect the anonymity of families who use our programs, we cannot show you the grateful tears and hugs of parents as they load the toys and gifts into their cars.

If you know of a family that needs our support and has not received an invitation by mid October please contact your school district administrator.