Program News 2002
A Heartwarming Holiday for Our Children and Young People
2001 was a tough year for everyone but particularly for the children and families at Good Shepherd. It is for this reason that the generosity of many individuals and corporations during this holiday season was so deeply appreciated. It was heartwarming to witness the positive response of so many friends and supporters to our Holiday Gift Drive. Through toy drives, holiday parties, donations of gifts, gift certificates and monetary contributions, they helped to make this holiday season warmer and brighter for our children and young people. We are truly indebted to all the companies and individuals who went out of their way to ensure a better holiday season for our program participants. We are unable to mention all of our contributors here, but wish to highlight some new additions to our family of supporters. The activities described below are examples of the new partnerships we are beginning to develop with corporations:
Through the Sears Care-A-Van Project, Sears sponsored a party for the children and families of Good Shepherd Services' Red Hook Community Center Beacon. In partnership with the Points of Light Foundation, Sears issued a call to action for help in supporting local and national children's charities during the holiday season. Sears donated close to $100,000 in clothing, toys and other necessities which were loaded on December 2nd, 2001 at Sears headquarters in Chicago onto ten semi-trailer trucks Care-A-Vans destined for different cities nationwide. GSS was the charity of choice for the New York metro area.
At the party, which was held in the new Good Shepherd Services Center in Red Hook, children participated in arts and crafts activities, met Santa and received wonderful gifts from the Sears effort. More than 200 Red Hook residents enjoyed the festivities.
Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) conducted a company-wide gift drive, and chose Good Shepherd as one of the three non-profit organizations to receive the gifts collected. In addition, the IT department of CSFB, who earlier in the year volunteered their time to set up new computers for the residences, sponsored a party for the young women in our residential programs. They treated each young person to snacks and a ginger bread cookie to decorate. At the end of the event they presented each girl with gift certificates to stores such as the Gap, the Body Shop, and Virgin Records.
With the help of Lawyers for Children, Inc., Bloomberg L.P. hosted a behind the scenes tour of its corporate headquarters. Each young person was paired with a member of the sales staff at Bloomberg who acted as a tour guide and presented a holiday gift from the company. It was a wonderfully enriching experience for our youth, as it provided them with an invaluable glimpse into the business world.
January 8, 2002
