We are asking Comcast team members to generously provide children with the tools necessary to be successful in the classroom.  Our efforts will be supporting the children at the 10th and Penn Elementary School with the supplies they need to start school with confidence.

Thank you for your support and generosity!

Join Community Solutions this year in spreading holiday cheer to local families in need. Our Holiday Giving Program relies on the generosity and support of donors to share the joys of the holiday season with children, families, and individuals in our community.

Last year we served over 500 local individuals, making their holiday special in a very challenging year and we're excited to do so again.

If you would like to make a cash donation in lieu of adopting a family, please click here.

This is a test site.

Many families in our community are not able to purchase presents for their children. But through Beverly Bootstraps’ Adopt-a-Family program, donors can help these children receive new clothes, games or toys. Donors will have the unique opportunity to give holiday gifts to local children in need. After all, the holidays are all about giving!

Below you can read through the family profiles and when you find the family/families that touches your heart, you can adopt/select them. Family profiles are easily printable to bring shopping.

Calling all Santas! 

The giving season is here and we invite you to become a Santa to one of our families in need! 

More than 90% of the children and families we serve are low income, and celebrating the holidays can be stressful time and a very real challenge. In many cases, the only holiday gift these families receive come through our annual Families Helping Families holiday drive. You can share in the holiday spirit and create a new cherished family tradition by adopting a family in need this holiday season.

 2021 marks the 26th annual Stockings for Kids program. Our mission is to create a positive and memorable holiday by giving gifts to children and siblings of Early Connections Learning Centers. At Early Connections, children receive high quality early care and education. Many families struggle to make ends meet and holiday gifts are beyond their reach. Join us as together we share the joy of the holidays with our community's most vulnerable children and families.

 How does it work?

You can choose to select a single child or a sibling group. By agreeing to select a child or children, you are making a commitment to provide them with all of the needed items on their shopping list.

1. Simply scroll down to the "Those in Need" section to find a child or sibling group that is marked as "available".
2. Click on the profile to view the household information and shopping list.
3. Click “Select this Profile” to adopt the child or sibling group.
4. You will be taken to a screen to register your name, email address, and password with Roonga.
5. Once registered, you should be redirected to the profile. Again, click “Select this Profile”
6. A screen will appear requesting a phone number and organization affiliation. If you are selecting this profile on behalf of a Business, Corporation, or Organization you can enter that information on this screen. You can also skip providing this information.
7. Congratulations! You have adopted a profile!
8. We will use the e-mail that you provided to stay in touch with you.

Gift drop-off

Gifts must be delivered on Saturday, December 4th between 10:00am-1:00pm. If you are unable to deliver your gifts during this time, please email acarlson@earlyconnections.org ASAP to schedule another appointment. 

The gift drop-off location is 104 East Rio Grande Street. Colorado Springs, CO. 80903.

*Make sure all of the gifts are together and labeled with the child's name and profile ID

Gift Purchasing Guidelines

• Each child has requested a special toy or gift. These gifts should not exceed $25 in value.
• Please provide new/unused items
• No food items
• Include batteries for anything that requires them!
• Gift receipts are welcome but not mandatory

COVID-19 Considerations

This year we are going to have a hybrid drop-off! For those who would like to come inside the building to personally drop off your gifts, get a bite to eat, and participate in a tour of our building you will be welcome too. If you feel more comfortable staying in your vehicle to do a quick drop-off you are more than welcome to do that as well. We want everyone to feel comfortable and safe while dropping off gifts for all of our wonderful kiddos!

Similar to last year, we are asking that you please print out the profile, or write down the name and ID and place all of the items in a bag. If you're donating to multiple children, please have the items in separate bags for each child with the child's name and ID in the corresponding bag.

If you cannot drop off your donation on Saturday, December 4th, please contact us ASAP by emailing acarlson@earlyconnections.org to schedule another appointment. Deliveries made outside of December 4th between 10:00am-1:00pm must be made by appointment only.

Glad Tidings this Christmas with Star of Hope!

Star of Hope Mission’s Extended Services program will continue the long-running Christmas Adopt-a-Family program this year.  As we provide hope, encouragement, and resources to homeless, formerly homeless, and at-risk households in Houston and surrounding areas, we invite Sponsors to help provide Christmas gifts, household items, and other treats for those impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Last year, 2020, we saw an unprecedented need in our city…and the entire world…caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.  When we launched our Glad Tidings Christmas Adopt-a-Family program last year, we began using a new platform.

In this COVID19 era, millions of households were impacted by furloughs, lay-offs, and other economic crises.  We expect there will be a great demand for assistance this holiday season...and, this is who needs help:

Homeless Families: Working in conjunction with local schools to identify homeless families and unaccompanied youth/minors, in 2019, we were able to expand the program to include this often-forgotten population.  These families are living "doubled-up" with family or friends, or in places not inhabitable. 

Former Star of Hope program families: The history of Glad Tidings begins with our program graduates.  In 1993 we had Sponsors "adopt" families who moved out of our shelters and began creating their new lives as they recovered from homelessness.  That tradition continues today.  Most are single-parent (single moms) homes and have children of varying ages.

Outreach families: Several years ago, we opened the registration for Glad Tidings to qualifying, at-risk families.  These families are single parents with children; grandmothers raising their grandchildren; single dads with children; and two-parent families who are struggling in today’s economy.  This is the largest group of Recipient Families…especially in this year following the Covid-19 pandemic. (NOTE: these families go through a screening process to determine eligibility and need)

What you can do…

While Christmas is not all about presents … gift-giving and receiving are a big part of this holiday season. Receiving a gift means someone cares, someone loves, someone took time. While toys and fun items are GREAT … clothing, household goods, and personal care items are extremely helpful as well. 

Check out the listings below to find a family you can help with today. As a Sponsor, you will have the option to adopt a total two (2) families or less. 

For more information about our 2021 Glad Tidings Christmas Adopt-a-Family program email us at gladtidings@sohmission.org. 

Here at D.A. Blodgett - St. John's (DABSJ) we believe that everyone deserves a childhood, and the holidays are such a memorable part of growing up.

When you were younger do you remember that feeling of excitement that the holiday season brought each year? Unfortunately not all children have experienced that magical feeling. You can help us provide some of that magic by purchasing holiday gifts below.

These gifts along with a gift card will be distributed to over 500 kids in our counseling, foster care, adoption, mentoring, and residential programs here at DABSJ. 

If you would like to make a financial donation, please visit our website. Have questions? Contact Allyssa at amurphy@dabsj.org. 

*Please note that our greatest need is gift cards.*

Our staff will be working with each family to ensure they use the gift card in the best way, either with parents purchasing extra items for the kids, or the children receiving the gift card to buy something special for themselves.

Every fall, the Student Parent HELP Center (SPHC), a program of the University of Minnesota, Office for Student Affairs, organizes Gifts for Little Gophers (formerly known as Adopt-A-Family), a holiday assistance program for undergraduates students who are also pregnant or parenting children while earning their first degrees.

Important notice: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we needed to do an all contact-free Gifts for Little Gophers experience. Therefore, there will be no gift delivery or pickups. Everything will be direct purchase and direct delivery through student's selected vendor. This will appear as the typical wish lists past donors are used to seeing, but the student will also have embedded a link to a registry they have created, containing those same wish list items. Those items can then be purchased and shipped directly to the student via information the student has attached to their registry. We are including the wish list format as well as that is the only way we can list students anonymously and assign them an ID number. It also allows donors to review wish list items to see if they meet their expectations, prior to logging into a specific student's store registry. 

Those who do not wish to shop for gifts can also donate to our on-line Adopt a Family account through the U of M Foundation. Funds from this account will be used to provide food and other necessities for students. You may also chose to donate to one of our year round, student assistance funds. 

Donate to the University of Minnesota (umn.edu)

For questions, contact Susan Warfield at warfi002@umn.edu or 651-340-1280 or 612-625-5437.  Thank you for your interest!

ABOUT WINTER WONDERLAND 2021

Five years ago, we had a vision to connect with our community during the holidays while bringing our Mission and Values to life and our annual event, Winter Wonderland was born.  Winter Wonderland has since provided 250+ families in the Excelsior, Chinatown, Bayview, Union City, Napa/Solano SparkPoints and their neighborhoods with a holiday celebration where they can feel supported, connected, and build community. We have you to thank you for this incredible impact.

About United Way Bay Area: United we can lift our communities out of poverty – We don’t do our work alone. We are in this together, and it’s the strength of our community partners that drives real change. Improving our community and the lives of our residents does not happen in a single moment—it happens in multiple moments created by thousands of people.

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