Holiday Toys and Gifts
Holiday Adopt-A-Family
An exciting change is coming for our 2024 season! Check back here for details as we organize this new event.
The Harlem Valley Compassion Connection, Inc is happy to help parents and guardians provide holiday toys and gifts to local children in need. We assist low-income families as well as those who may have experienced emergencies or parent/guardian underemployment. To be eligible, children must reside within the Town of Dover (Wingdale, Dover) or the Town of Amenia (Wassaic, Amenia) and the recipients of the toys must be from ages newborn through 17. School aged children must attend school in the Dover or Webutuck School District.
Our 2024 Holiday Gift Drive will run from November 1st through December 10th.
We have chosen to run our Holiday Drives a little differently this year to make sure that we can help as many families as possible in more specific ways. This year, we are organizing an Adopt-a-Family drive for families in the Dover and Webutuck School Districts. You will see one flier that lists all donation information, sign ups, and pick ups.
We also accept monetary donations of cash, check, Venmo payments, and gift cards that we can use to purchase gifts that are needed most. (Checks should be made out to Harlem Valley Compassion Connection, Inc).
Toy Drive Coordinators:
2024 distribution for registered families will be as follows:
We do not discriminate based on age, education, sex, gender, ability, or disability.
hvcompassionconnection@gmail.com
Send an email for more information.
How Our Adopt-a-Family Program Works
Adopt-a-Family
Adopt A Family offers direct "adoption" of families in need for individuals, businesses, and organizations. This allows you to select the family that you will shop for this holiday season.
Through the online matching tool Roonga, you can choose from a list of local families in need to support! This easy-to-use system is designed to make your participation in the Adopt A Family program easier, and more personalized, than ever before.
Click the link to access Roonga – then simply scroll through families available for adoption and select the family based on the size and details you would like to adopt.
Find our link here: https://www.roonga.com/hvccaaf2024
Online Gift Donation - Amazon Wish List
You don’t have to adopt an entire family to make a difference this holiday season! Shop through our Amazon Wish List as a convenient way for you to help us provide gifts to all of our families.
Through the registry, you can easily pick the exact items that we have seen a great need for and have everything shipped directly to us or to you without leaving your house.
For tracking purposes when purchasing items from the Amazon Wish List, we kindly ask that you:
- Forward your receipt to hvcompassionconnection@gmail.com, so that we can know to expect the items and confirm receipt.
Our Amazon List can be found here: https://a.co/2RO99Np
Donation Bins
If adopting a specific family isn't for you, you can find our brightly colored donation bins in businesses throughout the Harlem Valley (Wingdale - Dover Plains - Wassaic - Amenia). You can place NEW, unwrapped toys in these bins. Items collected in our bins will be used to make sure so that everyone is taken care of. We check & collect several times per week. (We do have many families with just 1 or 2 children)
We assist ages newborn through 17. While it may be easier to purchase toys for toddlers and younger children, we are often scrambling for gifts for older "kids" last minute. If you can't decide what to buy, consider a gift card or reach out to us for suggestions.
Donation bins can be found in:
Wingdale: Brito's Martial Arts, Harlem Valley Homestead, Orlando Hardware
Dover Plains: Brett's True Value
Wassaic: Blackbird Bistro, Jack's Auto Service
Amenia: Amenia Library, Amenia Town Hall, Dollar General
(this list is subject to change as more businesses commit to supporting us)
Gift Cards
We do accept gift cards to pass along to the families. If you would like to give gift cards, please contact us and one of our Board Members will pick those up. Popular and appropriate stores include: Five Below, Target, Walmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, Amazon, Visa, American Express and others. We also accept gift certificates to local restaurants and grocery stores that help families with meals.
Monetary Donations - Leave it up to us
We accept donations of cash, check, money order, and Venmo for any denomination that you would like to give. All donations that we receive are spent on toys and gifts for this drive.
Checks and money orders should be made out to: Harlem Valley Compassion Connection, Inc with a note in the memo section "Holiday Drive".
Venmo payments can be sent to @hvcompassionconnection
Want to Volunteer to Help?
Email us if you are interested in helping us with this project.
Send an email for more information.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE VALLEY STAYS IN THE VALLEY!
All donations that are collected are returned 100% to local families. Items we collect are distributed directly to families in the Harlem Valley. Your donations are guaranteed to go to your community!
Choose a Family to Adopt
Choose a family that matches your budget and your interests. There are many in need this year.