Holiday for Hope
Who: Dreams For Kids National Office and volunteers / participants from the National Capital Region.
What: DC’s Holiday for Hope will bring together hundreds of homeless & underpriveleged kids for a one of a kind holiday celebration that will include; Arts & Crafts, Live musical performances, magic shows, cookie and hat decorating, a full holiday feast and each child will receive a bag of new presents.
When: The weekend before Christmas
Why: To spread the holiday spirit to those who need it most. For many of these kids this will be their only opportunity to celebrate the holidays.
Today, as Holiday for Hope celebrates its 22nd anniversary, it is the largest holiday event of its kind in the world. DC will be holding its third Holiday for Hope celebration and will have hundreds of homeless and underprivileged children participating. When considering that there are over 10,000 homeless and severely underprivileged kids celebrating in Holiday for Hope all over the world, it is difficult to believe how it all began- with just a group of a dozen volunteers visiting a tiny room of a small homeless shelter on the Southside of Chicago on Christmas Eve, 1989.
On that day, twenty-two years ago, Tom Tuohy, his mother, brother and sister, and a group of their friends visited Clara’s House Shelter to bring the Holiday Spirit to 54 kid and their mothers. The children were giddy with joy to have such a rare celebration of food, songs, smiles, and gifts. Most importantly, they were reminded, no matter their situation, there were people in the world who cared about them, and there were better days ahead.
However, it wasn’t until the volunteers prepared to leave and Clara pulled them aside, that they would learn just how important their visit was to the kids and their mothers. Clara simply said, “If you would not have come, these kids would never have known it was Christmas.” Clara explained the shelter could not afford gifts, nor could the mothers of the children. These kids would wake in a strange bed or no bed at all, and with no home of their own. A commitment was made that day. Every child, especially children who have so little, deserve to be given hope and the gift of celebrating the Holiday Season. So this small group agreed to reach further into the community and to find as many kids as possible – and give them the gift of hope.
In a few short years, the Dreams For Kids local Holiday celebration grew to become the largest of its kind in the State of Illinois, bringing over 1,000 kids together for a spectacular day of food, music, games, clowns, face painters, and a shopping bag full of gifts for each child.
Today, this event, Holiday for Hope, brings individuals and groups in over 30 countries around the world together. From visits to shelters and orphanages to grand parties in the street and in churches, global communities celebrate this special Season and provide their underprivileged and homeless children with a day filled with generosity, love, and hope which carries into the New Year.
During the month of December, please join us, as we bring the forgotten children of our world together to celebrate life, each other, and hope for a new year better than the last. Let us come together, people of all faith and culture, to honor and celebrate children of all abilities and give each of them every reason to believe their future will be bright.
Get Involved in Holiday for Hope!
- Start a toy drive near you!
- Become one of our invaluable sponors!
- Plan an event of your own!
Email Holiday for Hope today for more details on any of the above options.
Download the Sponsorship Packet 2011, Involvement Letter, or Toys & Clothing Drive information
Download Chapters 8 and 9 of Kiss of a Dolphin and read the story of how Holiday for Hope began!