Successful Holiday Toy Drive - More than 600 Gifts Delivered!

Once again the community came together to assist us in our annual holiday toy drive for our young clients and the children of clients. For the families we serve, many of whom are battling illness accompanied by financial pressure, the holidays can be a particularly difficult time of year.

Macy's staff dropping off dozens of toys to be
delivered to Food & Friends' young clients.

Our goal this year was to make sure that the 254 young people we serve received a special holiday present. Dozens of organizations and individuals helped us to not only reach this goal but exceed it! We wrapped and delivered more than 640 donated toys and coats, making the holiday especially memorable for clients.

A special thank you goes out to our corporate partners, Macy’s and Inter-American Development Bank, and referral partners, Whitman-Walker Health, Kaiser Permanente and Hospice of the Chesapeake, for their donations. We received car-load after car-load from these partners and we can’t thank them enough.

The words of one very excited mother on service express the impact of this special delivery:

“Thank you so much for the gifts you gave us – you all made our Christmas. It was fantastic! I wish I could have videotaped the way my kids were reacting – it was beautiful. My son was still hopping around when we were going to church. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Until you get in a place like this, you have no idea how valuable a service like Food & Friends is. I don’t know what I would do without you all. I know everyone says it, but I really do love you all.”

Thank you to everyone who donated to the holiday toy drive. Many of you have been doing so for years and we are grateful for the continued support. Happy New Year!