The Joy of Giving, Part 1

The generosity and kindness shared this holiday season, whether you sponsored a family or made an end-of-year donation, was appreciated. Our lives are richer when we give, and the joy that comes from helping others provides a reward that’s often more valuable than the gift itself.

We want to share the impact your involvement makes and this year’s annual Hope for the Holidays program is full of wonderful examples of giving and heartfelt gratitude from some truly deserving families.

Hope for The Holidays

Hope for the Holidays 2017 presented by Fortis Construction provided support and joy to families who needed a little help during the holiday season. Run by Children’s Cancer Association’s (CCA) Link Program, this event finished its 14th year on a high note.

Hope for the Holidays saw a record 62 families matched with incredibly kind and generous sponsors, who provided gifts to each member of the household and a grocery store gift card for their holiday celebration. In total, 53 sponsor groups comprised of more than 1,300 individuals participated in supporting a family with their friends, coworkers, teams, church groups, and their own families. We would especially like to thank the several groups at Nike and Intel that sponsored many of the families.

This year, 313 individual family members received an estimated $68,800 in gifts and gift cards!

2nd Annual Drop Off Party

Many of our sponsors chose to drop off their gifts to the CCA office for our 2nd Annual Drop Off Party. Sponsors enjoyed a hot chocolate bar, holiday cookies, and a photo booth! Although Santa was unavailable to help deliver all these presents, our friends at Direct Transport generously donated their time and trucks to ensure that the presents and holiday cheer arrived on time. Twenty drivers donated over 200 hours of driving time!

Altogether, 1,353 volunteers participated, putting in a whopping  1,705 hours of work!  Families overwhelmingly reported that the support they received was beneficial to their family and their child.

Deserving Families

Willa’s Family

“Thank you so much for all of the gifts! Every gift is perfect, and we can tell a lot of thought was put into each one. It was so nice to feel normal for a day. We will be talking about this Christmas for years to come.” – Marce, Willa’s Mom

The Billuk Family

“We are so thankful and grateful for what the CCA sponsors have done. It has been an unbelievable, WONDERFUL Christmas! My kids could not stop saying, “This is the best Christmas!” We have had a very tough year, and to end the year with a wonderful Christmas has been so amazing! We will NEVER forget this Christmas. Thank you all so very much from the bottom of our hearts! God bless you all!” – Billuk Family

Khloe’s Family

“Thank you so much for everyone’s help during our time of need! … I have no idea what it would have been like without all of the help you provided! Thank you again!” – Jessica, Khloe’s mom

The Slate Family

“When I first learned we had been chosen to be sponsored for Hope for the Holidays, I was overjoyed and touched that there was a program where real people had so much compassion and love for people they had never even met. A huge burden lifted off of my heart knowing that the children would have a wonderful Christmas after all!

A few weeks later the delivery driver dropped the gifts off and I literally started sobbing tears of joy as I looked down at all of the packages.

Christmas Day was a relief and I can’t even begin to explain what all of you have done for our family. I can never thank you enough for all the happy faces and joyful sounds that filled the room Christmas Day because of you! Every single gift was more than we ever hoped, the way each little thing had a special touch , and so much thought was put into everything.

Thank you for touching our hearts and our lives with your thoughtfulness and love.” – Slate Family

You Make the Difference

All of this was possible because of our generous sponsors, who put thought and love into each of their gift purchases. While the holidays are a year away, it’s never too early to make a difference.

Our sponsors reported that they had a positive experience working with CCA and would recommend this experience to others: “Helping a family in need completely shifted our focus for Christmas this year, and as a result, everyone had a fulfilling experience.”

Please consider making a donation to our programs, together we can provide special moments like these to families and their children facing cancer and other serious illness.