GOOD SHEPHERD SERVICES

Ringing in the Holidays at Good Shepherd

 Thanks to the generosity and kindness of our supporters, this holiday season was a wonderful and memorable experience for so many of our children, young people and families. Many of our programs threw holiday celebrations and Christmas parties.  The families of our Family Reception Center were treated to a visit by Santa Claus, while our after-school program at P.S. 27 held a bash that included performances by young people, games, arts and crafts.  Each of our residences for youth also held celebrations, which provided a sense of community for the vulnerable young people in our care who are often without family during this time of year.

We were truly overwhelmed by the response to our Holiday Gift Drive from both individuals and corporations who were eager to make this holiday special for our program participants. 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. Unfortunately we are unable to mention all of our contributors here, but wish to highlight a few of our new and faithful supporters. 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!

• First Brokers Securities, Inc., a sponsor of our gift drive for many years, once again donated hundreds of the season's most coveted toys, gift certificates and gifts for our children and teens.

• A staff party at the Metropolitan Museum of Art sponsored by Brook Astor yielded about 200 toys and gifts, many of which were educational, for our children and young people.

• The Hilton New York Hotel collected gifts and personally delivered them to the children in our foster care program site in the Bronx.

• Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe, a NY law firm, "adopted" Marian Hall, our long-term residence for young women, and gave each girl a gift bag containing gift certificates, hats, and gloves.

• Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation donated tickets to Def Poetry Jam, a Broadway performance consisting of spoken word, poetry, and haiku.  The young women in our Marian Hall residence who attended the show were very appreciative of this holiday treat.

• Two generous donors sponsored a trip to the Big Apple Circus for children and families in our foster boarding home program.
  
• A generous client of our caterer, Great Performances, donated wonderful Big Apple Circus gift bags, which were the perfect complement to the circus trip and an added bonus for the children who attended the holiday party at the Red Hook Community Center Family Counseling Program.
  

January 8, 2003