JollyVisits Shoebox/Gift-Bag Gift Drive

JollyVisits

Shoebox/Gift-Bag
Gift Drive

If you're reading this, you've met Santa Claus. You may always reach Santa at JollyVisits@gmail.com and request FREE home visits, phone calls, photo sessions, email or letters. Read more about FREE visits with Santa in our post, "FREE Visits With Santa".

Christmas is seen as a holiday especially for children; the days off from school, the beauty of fresh snow and the anticipation of long-hoped-for gifts are thrills that countless children look forward to each year.

There are thousands of children in our communities, however, who DON'T see Christmas as a time of joy. They see bright lights, colorful advertisements and even people dressed in well-known costume, all this announcing and cheering the arrival of the most commercial and money-driven season in our country's collective life.

These underprivileged children, many struggling to have even their most basic needs met, see Christmas as a time when their schoolmates and neighbors will send and receive all sorts of expensive gifts, but they will get little or nothing. Mom, Dad and/or their other caregivers won't have money for enough food or warm clothes, let alone for pricey toys and games.

We're going to change that together, you and I.

Beginning January 15th and continuing through November 30, JollyVisits is conducting a "shoebox drive" with the goal of providing 2,500 FREE gifts to the underprivileged children of our communities. Here's how it works:

Find a shoebox (we ask that you use shoeboxes because they'e easier to stack in storage and easier to wrap). Fill it with $5 worth of goodies for a girl, a boy or either. Some suggestions include:

BOYS

Coloring Books

Crayons or Markers

Baseball

Flashlight

Books

GIRLS

Coloring Books

Crayons or Markers

Hair Ties/Scrunchies

Nail Polish

Stickers

EITHER

Solid-color Hats or Gloves (black, blue, etc)

Mints or Hard Candies

Travel Games (Dollar Tree and similar stores often have generic versions of popular travel-sized games)

Puzzles (again, dollar stores usually have lots of varieties of puzzles suitable for a range of ages)

PLEASE fill each box with items totaling ONLY between $5 and $10. You may donate as many boxes as you like, but the goal is as many boxes as we can collect, and we want the distribution to be as fair as possible.

2,500 boxes seems like a lot - but it's easy to see how it can be done!

From January 15 to November 15, eleven months, if 100 people donated ONE box a month, we'd have 1,100 boxes by the time we're ready to deliver them. If those same 100 people donated TWO boxes a month, 2,200 boxes, etc.

We're asking everyone who reads this to consider donating ONE BOX a month at minimum. If we get 500 people to donate one box a month for 11 months, we'll more than DOUBLE our goal of 2,500 boxes for this upcoming Christmas season.

You can wrap your boxes, or give them to us unwrapped; we only ask that you tape the lid shut so they don't spill if they fall over in storage.

There are two different ways that gifts will be distributed:

1) Individual Home Deliveries - if you know of a family with children 12 and under who are struggling financially and can't afford much or anything for Christmas, you may contact us at JollyVisits@gmail.com and give us the address and the number and gender of the children. No personal information is necessary.

2) Group Events - when folks like you recommend a school, church, daycare or other children's group that has underprivileged children, Santa will personally deliver gifts to each child at their location.

Additionally, Santa will be making numerous scheduled (and unscheduled!) public appearances where he will greet children and give away small trinkets. These appearances will be used to inform the public about our Gift Drive.

Santa is available 365 days a year - not just at Christmastime! His presence in the community is our most powerful tool for alerting your friends and neighbors to the needs of the poor children in our communities.

Any questions may be directed to Steve Beisser, Operations Manager at JollyVisits, by reaching him at:

JollyVisits@gmail.com

732-390-0914 office

848-391-4380 cell/text

Thank you for reading! We are grateful for your willingness to partner with Santa to make Christmas a time of joy and happiness for those less fortunate. All the best in this new year!