Families worldwide celebrate the holidays every year with festive decorations, feasts of all sorts, and often gifts exchanged. We often forget how many families worldwide struggle to feed their families during these holiday times.
Read on to learn more about how you can give or receive help from various charities focused on helping struggling families during the holiday season. Families are often strapped for cash during the holiday season. The following charities can help make the holidays magical for these families.
Make-A-Wish Foundation
One of the world’s most important children’s charities, the Make-a-Wish Foundation grants children’s wishes throughout the year, not just during Christmas.
Additionally, they offer this for kids between 2.5 and 18 years old who face life-threatening medical conditions. Thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, it will be one of the most magical and memorable holidays that a child has ever experienced. The foundation grants the wishes of these children all year long, so don’t worry if you can’t make the holidays.
Getting a child’s wish fulfilled is most likely to happen if you know a child within this age bracket and are eligible to refer a child. A referral inquiry form must be filled out to make a wish.
Salvation Army
Children from needy families can receive Christmas dinners, clothing, and toys from the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army provides all assistance and helps the local community during the holiday season. You can find your nearest Salvation Army Community Center by using their website. Registration is required for Christmas assistance. The Salvation Army Centers list the dates for registration for Christmas assistance. Get in touch with your local Salvation Army center to find out about registration deadlines and dates.
You will be well served by asking this organization for assistance if you find your kids needing a miracle during the holiday season. Among the services that the Salvation Army provides are:
Angel Tree
Salvation Army provides clothes and toys for less privileged children as part of this program. Local Salvation Army centers offer the Salvation Army Angel Tree Program to benefit disadvantaged children and seniors aged 60 and older. Stores and malls usually place Angel Trees at the start of November with a tag on each tree with the angel’s age, gender, and gift wish.
Selecting an angel’s tag and purchasing items from the store left for that angel is a community tradition. Angel Tree program participants must register with a local Salvation Army Center. Eligibility requirements must be met to participate.
Salvation Army Angel Tree applications for Christmas assistance are available with or without invitation codes for areas where the Angel Tree program is currently available. For more information about Angel Tree Christmas Assistance near you, visit their website and enter your zip code.
Grocery and Food Assistance
Families in need receive food and groceries during the holidays and throughout the year.
Utility Bills Assistance
Families can afford to enjoy the holiday season because Salvation Army helps them pay for their electricity and heat.
Toys for Tots
Donated toys from Toys for Tots are given to less fortunate children as Christmas gifts so they can share the magic of Christmas with others. US Marines Reserve is the charitable organization behind this program. Essentially, its purpose is to deliver a message of hope through a new toy at Christmas to less fortunate children. This program aims to help them become responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.”
If you want a toy for Christmas, you can request it by submitting the required details on “Request A Toy.” Contact a local Toys for Tots Campaign Coordinator to make arrangements. By donating toys to less privileged children, Toys for Tots believes kids will feel like part of the community and enjoy the joy and celebration of Christmas to the fullest.
United Way
United Way is one of the most well-known charities that aids families throughout the year. As a result, the United Way ramps up its efforts to help families during this time. The United Way also offers Christmas assistance programs to needy families and collaborates with other charities on Gift Tree initiatives.
United Way is an excellent organization to contact if you need assistance during the holidays. Due to its contacts with almost every charity in your community, the organization can help nearly any cause.
United Way can likely help you during this holiday season regardless of your situation. On the United Way website, you can find a helpful FAQ section under ‘Contact Us’ that will direct you in the right direction if you still need assistance.
Operation Christmas Child
As part of the Samaritan’s Purse Christian relief organization, this charity provides shoeboxes filled with toys, school supplies, and other goodies filled with toys, school supplies, and other goodies for children in need.
People from around the world donate materials to fill the shoeboxes. Filling a shoebox does not require much, but it can significantly benefit a child who otherwise would not have anything for the holidays.
Shoeboxes are even sent to communities in need worldwide by this organization. People affected by famine, war, diseases, and more fall into this category. Financial donations are also accepted if you don’t want to donate items, which helps purchase the items the organization needs and covers shipping costs.
Trees for Troops
The Christmas Spirit Foundation is a great charity to donate to if you want to get into the holiday spirit. If you were a soldier serving overseas, you would be far away from your family and friends. Trees for Troops is a program that the Christmas Spirit Foundation organizes to package and send Christmas trees to troops serving overseas.
A Christmas tree can make a big difference in lifting the spirits of men and women stationed in remote areas. Christmas trees at least bring them the feeling of being at home during the holidays, even if they can’t be home with their loved ones.
Adopt-A-Family Programs
Adopt-A-Family is a program that many charities and non-profit organizations run during Christmas. During the holiday season, this program assists families in need due to unemployment, homelessness, or medical conditions during the holiday season who cannot celebrate Christmas.
For more fortunate families, the Christmas season is the ideal time to adopt a family for the holidays. The requirements for participating in different programs differ, but there is generally a requirement that the family is low-income. Communities play an important role in the Adopt-A-Family Program by referring families in need of Christmas assistance to them. As part of an Adopt-A-Family program, the child and the entire adopted family will receive a complete dinner, gifts, and toys.
Cars4Christmas
Those who qualify for Cars4Christmas are low-income, disadvantaged, and veterans without basic transportation who cannot obtain one independently. For 20 years, Cars4Christmas has operated as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and has expanded nationally.
The Cars4Christmas organization organizes fundraising events, accepts donations, and acquires cars for the Christmas donation during the months leading up to the festive season.
Afterward, donated cars are given to low-income individuals and families who cannot afford basic transportation. These people often live in rural or suburban areas with inadequate transportation. The application requires you to tell your story and explain how a free car can transform your life.
Are you interested in learning more about different grants and programs that can help you with your living situation? Check out the rest of Gov Relations’ blog section today!
