Save a Christmas!
You can make a difference in the lives of children and families across Western New York!
Give the gift of hope and happiness this holiday season!
Since 2013, hundreds of children have experienced the joy of opening presents on Christmas morning thanks to the generosity of local businesses, organizations, and individuals through our annual Save a Christmas campaign.
Each year, we create a list of good little children receiving services from New Directions whose families wouldn't have the means to provide them with presents without help from caring community members.
Save a Christmas started when a New Directions employee mentioned how much it meant to her when she received a pink watch as a Christmas present from an anonymous sponsor when her family was living in a shelter and unable to afford any gifts. Inspired by her story, we set out to connect families in similar situations with generous sponsors from the community. In our first year, we helped 60 children receive presents. More than 10 years down the road, the need has only grown. This year, our hope is to provide presents for approximately 500 local children in Western New York receiving our services.
Explore the ways that you can help Save a Christmas below.
Do you have a question? Check out the answers to the most frequently asked questions below!
Save a Christmas benefits kids who are living at home with parents or caregivers and receiving New Directions community-based services, have a family whose economic need is verified by the New Directions employee providing them with services, are not linked to any other Christmas drives, and who, without assistance, would not have any presents for Christmas.
No. In order to honor client confidentiality, the families are given fun, holiday-themed code names and the wish lists are posted anonymously under these names. Some examples include: the Peppermint Family, the Tinsel Family, the Snowflake Family, and many more.
We do receive many thank you cards and letters from grateful families each year which we try to share with all those who donated and sponsored. It truly means so much to the families and children.
We receive wish lists from children in Niagara, Erie, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany counties. These wish lists are created with help from parents/caregivers and include some items that the children are interested in, their favorite colors, their hobbies, their clothing sizes, and other details that may help in finding them gifts. The wish lists are separated based on location and family size, so donors may choose which families they would like to sponsor.
Each donor and sponsor will decide the amount that they are comfortable spending. However, we do encourage that sponsors balance their spending across a sibling group, so when purchasing for a group of siblings, each child will receive gifts of similar value.
Unfortunately, we cannot accept gently used gifts.
We ask that you do not wrap the presents. Unwrapped presents provide an opportunity for parents/caregivers to participate in the giving process by wrapping the gifts for their child(ren) and to know what their child(ren) are receiving.
You may include wrapping paper, tape, or bows with your gift, if you'd like!
Once sponsors are done shopping for their assigned families, gifts can be delivered to one of four locations.
One location is in Lockport, one is in Niagara Falls, one is in Amherst, and the last is in Randolph. Based on the location of the sponsored family, we will suggest one of these locations. Times for the drop off locations are on the Erie, Niagara, and Southern Tier County Region Wish List pages.
Early gift drop-offs and pick up times will also be available - stay tuned for more information on our Facebook page!
Please include the holiday-themed code name with the gifts when you drop them off. this helps us make sure that they get to the right family.
Contact Us!
Email: saveachristmas@ndyfs.org
Phone: 716-486-3276