Season’s greetings, friends!
Time’s almost out for a number of older kids and teens who may not receive a gift this holiday season.
However, you can help those older kids and teens whose families are genuinely in need through the United Way of Bucks County’s Holiday Gift Card Drive.
The Holiday Gift Card Drive, which is run by the team of wonderful folks at the United Way of Bucks County in Fairless Hills, is expected to help more than 800 teens from ages 12 and up. Older kids and teens are too old for gifts from toy drives and can easily be forgotten. Donations help the United Way of Bucks County provide a $25 gift card and an extra $5 gift card for food to each of the older kids and teens in need. The gift cards are for retailers, movie theaters and eateries that older kids and teens often go to with their friends.
Donations have been a bit behind in this year of many natural disasters that has pulled generous donors in many directions, but I am confident that our readers will be able to fill the 173 child gap between how many kids are on the list and our current standing. I know I made my personal contribution Tuesday after a few weeks of procrastination due to the usual holiday madness.
In meeting with Holiday Gift Card Drive organizer Danielle Bush over the course of this drive, I’ve heard the stories of the older kids and teens who have received gift cards in the past or are on the list this year. Some recipients live with their fixed-income grandparents, single parents barely making ends meet and families who are going through a rough period.
It’s a safe bet that you likely know someone with older kids or teens in a position to be helped by this program.
One family on the request list this year is suffering from loss of a job and dwindling savings. They worked hard, did everything the right way and saved once they moved from a motel to an apartment in Lower Bucks County, but a sudden job loss has gobbled up their savings and “extras” like Christmas presents won’t be under the tree this year. With your support, we can help give their teenage kids a smile and break from the stress of home life.
Bush has told me many times over the years that a child using the gift card to buy a sweatshirt and simple meal at a fast food joint with their friends can change their holiday and make their life a little bit better.
Since the program launched in mid-November, I have had the chance to talk to several LevittownNow.com and NewtownPANow.com readers – Mary, Gail, Jim, Lori, Jean, Marcelis and too many more to name – who have made a contribution to the gift card drive. The donation sizes were different – some dropped off handpicked gift cards and others sent monetary donation online – but the donors had one common motivation, to make the holiday better for a family in need.
I’ve seen the generosity in this community and it has wowed me.
From the residents on Delancey Court in Newtown who donated enough gift cards to help 50 older kids and teens to the couple in Fairless Hills who donated to make Christmas bright with thoughts of their grandkids in mind, your selflessness has been striking and something that has honestly overwhelmed me.
“Just passing the blessings along!” donor Lori told me on Twitter.
Our readers have never let us or our nonprofit partners down in the past, and I truly appreciate any support you can provide.
To donate, drop off a gift card at the United Way of Bucks County’s office at 413 Hood Blvd on Fairless Hills, or make a donation online by clicking here.
Thank you for your support!
Tom Sofield
Publisher/Editor, LevittownNow.com and NewtownPANow.com
