Caring for Children’s largest activity every year is our annual Holiday Effort. During our annual Holiday Effort, participants may either volunteer to sponsor child(ren) or donate money so that we can help children with life-threatening and life-limiting illnesses during the all-important holiday season.
Last year’s 28th Holiday Effort was a huge success for the Caring for Children organization as we helped over 850+ children! Thanks again to the participation and generosity of thousands of sponsors (corporate and individual sponsorship), AND we raised the most donations ever, as well…a big thanks to everyone who generously donated.
Caring for Children utilizes the generosity of our monetary donations to not only provide additional support during the holidays to children who are not directly sponsored but also to fund our year-round educational and enrichment activities.
We are hoping to help more children this year. Please visit the Holiday Effort page to learn how you can participate, including Sponsoring a Child, Providing a Monetary Donation, Making a Gift Card Donation, or Sponsoring a Gift Basket.
Sponsor a Child or Family
This donation option allows a volunteer or a group of volunteers to sponsor a child or a family. All volunteers who sponsor a child will receive a personal profile on the child they are assigned, which has been written by the child’s social worker. The personal profile includes clothing sizes, special interests, and “special requests.” Based on the charity’s mission, the sponsor’s main priority is to meet the child’s clothing needs. Once these needs are met, the sponsor may choose to complement these essentials with items included in the special requests section.
Caring for Children does not begrudge the generosity of our sponsors, nor do we put boundaries on how the children are cared for. However, based on our experiences over the past 25+ years, the Foundation believes/recommends that sponsoring a child requires a minimum of $150-$200 per child to ensure a level of equity between all the children within a family. As a volunteer sponsoring a child, we are happy to have you sponsor a child or multiple children on your own or as part of a team.
Monetary Donation
A monetary donation can be made in any amount to Caring for Children, and it is completely tax deductible. All monetary donations are used to provide basic needs (e.g., clothing, food, and standard family living requirements) for these children and their families during the holiday effort and/or to provide educational and enrichment opportunities (e.g., after-school programs, summer camps, tutoring, etc.) throughout the year.
Monetary Donations: In lieu of sponsoring a child, donating money is the best option for making a difference in the lives of the children we follow. All monies received will go towards delivering services to the children we care for year-round. These services include basic needs (e.g., clothing, food vouchers, and financial assistance towards needed services) and enrichment activities (e.g., after-school programs, summer camps, tutoring, etc.). Donations may be made by credit card or by check. Please make the check payable to Frank and Rosemary Iovieno Caring for Children, and mail the gift to our mailing address.
Gift Card Donation
In lieu of sponsoring a child, any one of these gift card donation options would be a wonderful way to help the children we care for. All donations are tax deductible and will allow us to help the children we follow, especially the children not sponsored directly by volunteers. There are a variety of different gift cards to choose from, and all gift cards will be utilized to help the children during the holidays or throughout the year. We appreciate all gift cards but clothing and food store gift cards would meet the most urgent needs for children and families.
- Clothing Gift Cards: Gift certificates to Old Navy, Marshall’s, TJMaxx, Target, Walmart, American Eagle, or other adolescent clothes stores are excellent gifts for families. These stores are ubiquitous around the Boston area and families are usually able to get to these locations.
- Food/Grocery Gift Cards: Food/Grocery gift cards can be utilized by the families year round, and especially around the holiday season. In Massachusetts, the following grocery stores are appropriate choices: Stop and Shop, Shaw’s, Price Chopper or Hannaford’s. In Upstate New York, the following grocery stores are appropriate choices: Price Chopper or Hannaford’s.
- Movie Cards/Passes: For many families, going to the movies can be too expensive. Therefore, Loews or General Cinema movies certificates are a great idea, and these locations are accessible throughout the Boston and Upstate New York area (any quantity of tickets is welcome).
- Book Store Cards: Gift cards to Barnes and Noble, B. Dalton, or Borders Books are excellent alternative gift ideas. They allow the children we help to expand their knowledge through books.
- Music Gift Cards: The children we help, like most kids, love music but typically they don’t have the means to buy it. Therefore, gift card to Apple music would be fantastic.
Gift Basket for an Adolescent Donation
A Gift Basket for an Adolescent is an excellent option for a volunteer/volunteers who want to help a child in need but have time constraints in shopping for the clothing and other gifts required in sponsoring a child. This donation option, an adolescent gift basket, will provide you with a story on an adolescent boy or girl, and will provide you with the basic elements (primarily gift cards) for assembling an appropriate gift basket. A typical gift basket will cost $150-$200, and can be handled individually or by a team. We follow a number of adolescents, and recognize the challenges in purchasing tangible gifts for them. Therefore, if this option works for you then your efforts will certainly be put to good use.
