Thanks to these 4th graders at Hillside School in Hastings on Hudson, New York, two local food pantries are happily well stocked with personal care items! As members of the student council, the kids and their teacher organized a drive for the everyday personal care basics that can’t be purchased with SNAP (food stamps) by families in need. They drive yielded enough complete sets of shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant, shaving cream, soap, and body wash for more than 60 struggling Hastings and Dobbs Ferry families.

This resident of the Andrus on Hudson nursing home in Hastings on Hudson (NY) was one of 31 seniors there who received an unexpected home-made valentine this year! The 4th graders at Hillside Elementary School (also in Hastings) made personalized cards for each senior. A few of the lovely messages the kids wrote were, “Remember, you are amazing!”…”I hope you have the best day ever!”… and “You sound like a very good person. I hope you are happy today.”

This relieved mom just picked up one of 43 air purifiers we’ve purchased (so far) for our L.A. sponsored families and Holocaust survivors. One of her daughters suffers from severe asthma, and has been struggling with the smoke residue affecting the air quality in their apartment. The other 42 air purifiers are being distributed to the elderly and vulnerable Holocaust survivors we support with monthly groceries.

Thanks to our generous “Holiday Angel” donors, more than 150 Orlando kids in need received exactly what they wanted on Christmas morning! Each donor received the wish lists for the kids in one struggling family, and sent the gifts, unwrapped, to our Orlando community partner. Moms and dads picked up the toys, wrapped them, and were able to give them to their own kids, a gift in an of itself!

78 holiday gifts were delivered in December to elderly residents at the Andrus on Hudson nursing home (down the street from our Hastings on Hudson, NY office) and to other struggling Hastings seniors thanks to some generous Rivertowns families! We received gift wish-lists for seniors at the nursing home who have either no family, or no local family, along with wish-lists for struggling seniors in our town, and reached out to our community for help with gifts! In no time our office was filled with presents and cards for each of them.

We made it! Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we were able to provide turkeys and other Thanksgiving foods, or grocery gift cards for Thanksgiving foods, to all 919 families in our program this year.

A huge thank you to the girl scouts in Troop 2606 in Irvington, N.Y. for helping make the holidays happen for a family in need! These 4th graders made bracelets and baskets to sell at their local “Turkey Trot” running event, with the proceeds going towards the purchase of toys and games on the Christmas wish lists of four siblings (and their mom) in Orlando, Florida. Happy Holidays made truly happy!