It was a holiday circle of love! Hundreds of generous Children’s Home & Aid donors from across the state came together, despite COVID and the economic challenges, to make the holidays brighter for thousands of Illinois children and families.

In the Chicago area, companies and individuals that normally provide gifts for more than 3,000 children and families pivoted to raising more than $130,000 to purchase gift cards, enabling those parents to shop for their children. Project Linus, Carol Bernick, ITW, and Together We Rise donated 460 essential items such as coats and blankets for children to have during the holidays. These generous partners went above and beyond to be sure that the kids felt the magic of the holiday, and parents were relieved of just one small worry by knowing they could make the holidays happen.

One young dad with two small children received two Walmart gift cards for his boys. “I was so worried about seeing them at Christmas unless I could bring them something… anything. The gift cards made it possible.”

In Bloomington, the Adopt-a-Family program served 198 families, with masked volunteers wrapping gifts while maintaining safe social distance. The “Stuff the Bus” campaign, with presenting sponsor Paul Davis Restoration of Central Illinois, filled a Connect Transit bus with diapers, wipes, formula and other supplies that will keep our Crisis Nursery stocked for the year. Thank you to our partners 107.7 The Bull, Magic99POINT5, Cities 92.9 and Donny B’s Gourmet Popcorn and Gifts for making our 18th year a big success.

In the Granite City area, the Help for the Holidays Gift Drive was a huge success. Over 350 families in our Southern region received assistance of presents, gift cards and financial donations! In total we estimate that we distributed over 80,000 of gifts, checks, and gift cards to families this holiday season thanks to our generous donors.

There were 55 individual donors along with groups and teams getting together to support Children’s Home & Aid – including Metro East Community Rotary Group, Grumpy Bob’s Emporium, Hortica/Sentry Insurance, and more.

Thank you to our partners – Books-A-Million, Denise Fowler the Granite City CEO High School program, Burgers STL, and Duke Bakery.