HOLIDAY GIFT PROJECT

Our 15th annual Care & Share Holiday party will be held as a DRIVE THROUGH event at West Lawn United Methodist Church. Gift recipients are children with an incarcerated parent, or a parent with involvement in the justice system, who are struggling to make ends meet. 200 more children are on our list than last year! 223 families, 798 children, will benefit from this exciting event.

Many hands are working behind the scenes to prepare for the event... donating gifts, knitting hats and scarves, building gingerbread houses, baking cookies, donating food, creating a magical holiday atmosphere for the celebration, and of course SANTA and MRS. CLAUS!

Special thank you to Alice Moyer and the congregation of West Lawn UMC for providing this wonderful celebration for these families. BCPS would also like to thank Blankets of Hope-Berks for providing a warm blanket for everyone in attendance and the Hope Rescue Mission for kindly helping us deliver all the wrapped gifts to the church. And to Wilson School District Students (Wilson Ambassadors and Leos Club)

798 Children are on our Holiday Gift Project Gift List!

To sponsor a child, email: development@bcpsreentry.org

2019 Care & Share Party

Each December, BCPS partners with churches, groups, employers, and community members to provide Christmas gifts to hundreds of children with an incarcerated parent, or have a parent with involvement in the justice system.

West Lawn United Methodist Church hosts our Care & Share Holiday Party that allows these children to visit with Santa, make crafts, eat (lots of) cookies, and receive presents. For many of them, this will be the only holiday celebration they experience and everyone goes above and beyond to make it special.

The last time we were able to hold the event in-person was in 2019. Check out our photos to see what it is all about!

The children were so excited to enter the party!

This sweet girl brought a picture she drew for Santa.

Wilson High School Ambassadors coordinated a toy drive to collect small toys for under the trees.

178 families attended the party - that included 420 children and 305 adults!

Thank you to Marc Goldstein and Blankets of Hope-Berks for handing out blankets to everyone at the party.

An example of the joy that Blankets of Hope-Berks brings to the community!

One family with their blankets from Blankets of Hope-Berks!

Snuggling with her new blanket from Blankets of Hope-Berks!

Thank you to everyone who spent months knitting scarfs and hats for the trees...every child got to pick one. Special thank you to Mary Lou Hutchinson who made close to 100 scarfs! A knitting group at the Highlands donated scarfs for the first time this year.

Thank you to everyone who donated toys for on and under the trees...the response to this need was amazing and children loved picking a toy after visiting with Santa and Mrs. Claus!

Just some of the beautiful scarfs made by Mary Lou Hutchison.

Thank you to Berks Packing for donating hotdogs for the party and to Clover Farms for providing drinks. Thank you also to WAWA Community Care and Penn Grill, West Lawn for donating food.

Alice Moyer gathering her team of volunteers from West Lawn UMC for a prayer and pep talk before the event.

A few of the beautifully decorated gingerbread houses!

Thank you to Santa and Mrs. Claus for making this day so special for so many children.

Thank you to United Way of Berks County’s Emerging Leaders United and Enersys for making gifts bags for the children!

Volunteers helping the children create their gingerbread houses!