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!

Shop for one (or more!) brand-new, never-worn winter hat and matching gloves for a child between the ages of 5 and 18. We’ll give them to our partners in Hastings, Dobbs Ferry, and Mamaroneck for our youngest neighbors in need! Email moreinfo@family-to-family.org for details.

Thanks to our generous local donors, dozens of new backpacks, lunch bags and school supplies poured into our Hastings on Hudson, N.Y. office last month! Before school started, they were distributed to parents struggling to get by in Hastings, Dobbs Ferry and Ardsley to give to their kids. Our goal is to ease the burden of costly back-to-school shopping for our neighbors in need!