REMINDER: OUR Freebies2Deals Secret Santa Project: We Need YOUR Help!

Quick reminder:  We still really need your donations to our Secret Santa Project!  I would love any help you guys can give.  Donations are due by December 10th! Please read more about it below and who we will be donating to this year.  (Also, I should have all of the Secret Santa Families that were nominated picked by tonight… so I will update this post with items we need for those families as well.)  Thanks everyone!

I really HATE this project.  Why do I hate it?  Because I see a need for so many different people and it makes it SO hard to pick a Secret Santa Project each year.  There are so many different organizations, families and people that need help.  And deciding on just one breaks my heart!  After a lot of searching, praying and thinking this year, I have decided on TWO Secret Santa Projects!!  I might be crazy.. but I know we can pull it off and I know with God’s help we will be able to!

FIRST: (Nominations Have Ended.) If you know of any families in dire financial situations, I want to know about them.  I will be choosing a few of them to add as part of our Secret Santa Project this year. Email me at Melea@freebies2deals.com with the title of “Secret Santa”.  And make sure to include answers to these questions:

• Tell me about the family you are nominating and their situation.  Why should we donate to them?
• What are the ages of the kids? State whether they are a boy or girl.
• Are they receiving any other assistance from other Secret Santa project or donation centers?  If so, list them.
• Please tell me where they are located.  (city and state)
• Give me any other information you think I might need.

SECOND:  This year for our Secret Santa Project, we are going to be donating items to The Christmas Box House.  If you haven’t heard of them, they rescue kids from being neglected, abused or abandoned and give them a place to stay until they are placed in a foster care home. Some kids leave homes with drug addicts, physical abuse or parents who have just up and left their kids to fend for themselves!  Can imagine how scary that might be?? Living in an awful environment like that and then being displaced and put in the foster system has to be so tough on these kids–especially the little ones who have no idea what is going on. On average, these kids stay a few weeks in The Christmas Box House while they are trying to find an appropriate foster care home.

Each December, The Christmas Box House gives the children hope again by having them write letters to Santa.  That’s where we come in!  We are able to help give these kids a little hope during this super hard time and give them something that is “theirs”.  Their motto is “Every Child Deserves a Childhood”.  And if we can make some magic donating some gifts for Christmas morning, I think we should!!   If you want to know more about these kids or even watch a video, head over to The Christmas Box’s website.  

Ok, here is the nitty gritty.  These are the items we need donated to The Christmas Box House for the kids there.  ALL Items need to be NEW. 

• Duffel bags (Used for their luggage when they leave the CB House)
• Lego sets for boys and girls (Therapeutic – great outlet for kids struggling with many emotional issues.)
• MP3 Players and Earbud Headphones (Therapeutic as well)
• Bedding for twin beds
• Teen hoodies
• SLEDS!!

These are the items that will help all 800 kids that have been put in foster care.  These items will only be given to kids who miss deadlines for other donation projects.  So we are their last ditch effort. ALL items need to be NEW:

• Stocking stuffers – basically anything fun or yummy that could fit in a stocking!
• Toys
• MP3 Players & Earbud headphones
• Board or video games
• DVDs (rated G- PG)
• Crafts & Art supplies
• Pillow Pets
• Boys jeans, sizes 4-14/16  (HUGE need for these!)
• Snow boots (Huge need for these!)
•  Shoes (Huge need for these!)
•  Underwear and socks (Huge need for these!)
• Winter coats
• Hoodies
• Gift cards to places the foster families could take the children out for a bit of food or fun! (NOTE: These kids can be placed quickly without notice to the families taking them in their homes.  And the state only gives them $41 a month for Clothing/Hygiene items.  So these gift cards for outings could be really great!

You can either mail your donations to me…. or I will have drop off locations here in Utah that hopefully will be close enough for you to drop off.  Just shoot me an email at melea@freebies2deals.com and ask for the list of addresses.  

Just as in past years, I will do a video of the whole project that you can show your family a few days before Christmas!!  So get your kids involved, have them watch the video on The Christmas Box House website and get them excited to help other children who have no longer have parents, won’t have Christmas and need a little cheer!

Start watching the deal posts on Freebies2Deals.com and we should be able to find AMAZING deals on all of the things that we need to donate.  So please keep these kids and families in your mind while you are shopping. 🙂

DONATIONS ARE DUE by DECEMBER 10th!!  So make sure you email me at melea@freebies2deals.com to either get a mailing address or drop off address and deliver by that time.

If you are new to Freebies2Deals and haven’t seen our past projects, here they are:

In 2010, we donated full Christmases to 25 needy families!  I did a video of that adventure here, if you haven’t seen it.

In 2011, we donated a bunch of toys to The Primary Children’s Medical Center to their Children’s Cancer Unit.  Here is a video,

In 2012, we donated tons of Coats and Warm items to the Utah Youth Village.  And we donated food, toys and more to the families staying at The Ronald McDonald house.  You can watch the video here. 

In 2013, although I was in the middle of selling our home, packing and moving, we still pulled off an amazing amount of donations to the Children with Cancer Foundation. You can see that video here. 

I just wanted you guys to know how proud I am to have you guys as Freebies2Deals readers!!  People are always amazed at what we are able to offer for Secret Santa and it is because of all of you and your donations!  I hope you can join us this year and help us brighten the lives of others around us who don’t have as much.  Love you all!