Date: December 15th
Location: This is a private event for children in Foster Care
The Heart of HoliJOY: From our GIVING JOY station to sibling reunification to a special visit from Santa Claus, HoliJOY is committed to creating meaningful experiences for children in foster care. (HoliJOY) is a time for them to come together, celebrate the holiday spirit, and make cherished memories with their family and peers.
GIVING JOY Station: The true magic of the holiday season lies in the (GIVING), not receiving. Children in care are typically well-provided for during the holiday season. Foster families and organizations are given several opportunities to attend toy drives, participate in gifting programs, and are typically taken care of by generous donors, churches and community organizations to ensure they have gifts to open on Christmas morning.
Share in the JOY wants to give these children an opportunity to GIVE.
Throughout the year we collect GIFTS – not just toys. Children attending HoliJOY will be paired with a ‘personal shopper’ and be given the opportunity to choose from thousands of gifts for their foster parents, best friend, teachers, siblings… anyone they choose. The gifts are then wrapped and set aside for them to take home and GIVE to the important people in their life.
HoliJOY – A Truly Unique Event: We have once again secured an entire rec center for this event. Upon entry, children will have the opportunity to get their picture taken with Santa. We will have a large room set up for crafts with more than 30 tables with different activities. We will feature two bounce houses and serve cotton candy, snow cones, and popcorn. Santa’s friends will attend again this year as well Superheroes and local mascots. There will be a DJ, Karaoke, face painting, games, contests, and prizes. In the gymnasium, we will have 30 tables set up for our Giving JOY station along with two dozen elves to help with wrapping the gifts chosen. Our community partners will be catering the event and free meals will be provided to each attendee. We will also feature several video messages throughout the event from sports figures to local personalities with messages of inspiration and hope.
Proven Success: This will be the 3rd annual HoliJOY. During our first year we partnered with St. Jude’s Ranch for Children and provided a magical holiday experience for 34 youth in foster care. In 2023 we hosted 172 youth in foster care and worked with several different foster organizations. We also introduced the (Giving JOY) station which was an incredible success.
