Project Christmas as of 2020
News & Updates on Covid-19 Related Changes
News & Updates on Covid-19 Related Changes
How you can make YOUR Donation Count
Financial contributions made to our GoFundMe will allow us to help families in need THIS YEAR - and will be the main focus of our project:
Financial contributions made to our GoFundMe will allow us to help families in need THIS YEAR - and will be the main focus of our project:
You can order Wish-List Items and have them delivered directly to our donation drive by shipping to;
1103 Hudson Ave Voorhees Nj 08043
You can order from our wish-list online here;
2021 Welcome Statement
For the past six years, Kristie Evans (39, Voorhees), a local mom & Lego Enthusiast & Model builder, has worked each holiday since 2015 to spear-head a small group of volunteers (mostly her own immediate family members) to coordinate Project Christmas, serving local children & their families, with everything from food, to coats & clothing, as well as all the necessary gifts & gift wrap, even live trees, ornaments, lights & decor for many families in need.
As many of you already know, Kristie and her son Kaedin (10) both have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a highly complex connective tissue disorder that causes chronic pain and a multitude of related complications. Kristie, her son and husband, as well as her parents who are in their 70's, are the entire "staff" behind this project each year. Unfortunately, that means that 4 of the 5 people who do the BULK of the work to make Project Christmas happen - are all at HIGH risk when it comes to Covid-19. They have basically been on Quarantine since March 2020.
As the project grew ever closer this year, we had taken many things into consideration - but we also wanted to do everything possible not to entirely CANCEL the Project, especially knowing how many people would be in need THIS YEAR, more than ever before.
As of 11/16/2020 - we have made some major revisions to how the project will be run this year - so that we do not have to cancel it entirely. This means the amount and type of help that families receive WILL be very different from years past (where we were able to commit to FULLY providing everything needed for the families we would support).
We ask you to please read on - to learn more about what we WILL and WILL NOT be doing this year - and, hopefully, how you, as a donor, can still help the families we are doing everything possible to support through this difficult time.
What Changed - When - and Why?
Throughout the beginning of the season (Oct into Nov) - we truly believed that we would be able to continue the project this year with only minor modifications.
Unfortunately, On Saturday evening, November 14th, Kristie suffered from an unexpected medical issue. While she and her unborn son are both going to be fine, the incident was both eye-opening and concerning, especially amid the current rates of Covid-19 rising across our area.
It became clear on Sunday November 15th to Kristie - that she physically wasn't going to be able to take on the massive number of tasks necessary to run this year's Christmas Project in the same way she has in the past; but she was left with many questions- how to change the Project to one that could still be (safely) undertaken - and without putting herself, her family, and her unborn son at further risk.
To be clear- this is NOT the end of Project Christmas!
This is not the end of the Project now OR in the future, but it has become necessary to change how the project will be run for this season, and that we must accept limitations of what can be done in the limited time and with the limited resources that we have.
Because of the Pandemic's worsening- most of the in-person work that we do, including the hundreds of meetings we do each year to pick up and distribute donations is just not going to be safe and feasible.
Food Donations
We Are NOT going to be able to collect FOOD this year. Food items are our heaviest donations and require in-person contact, so we are redirecting food, toiletries and cleaning supplies to nearby food pantries. We will not be able to assist families with these items for 2020.
Clothing Donations
One of the most time-consuming and volunteer-heavy parts of our project involve collecting, sorting, washing, and packing the thousands of pounds of clothing each holiday season. As a result, we are still collecting NEW and gently used clothing, winter gear & coats- but we will NOT be distributing any of this until JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2021. Any donations will be held until we are able to process them, safely, after the holidays.
We typically are able to meet all the needs of our sponsored families- but as a result of the reduced focus on clothing this year- we are very unsure how this will impact the availability of clothing donations.
Toiletries, Cleaning Supplies, Etc
Along with clothing- toiletries, and cleaning supplies will still be accepted - but will NOT be distributed before Christmas.
Sponsored / Standby / Wait-list Families & the Open House
This is by far the most significant of the changes- usually we hold an open house for wait-list families to pick up needed items in the days before Christmas. Unfortunately, this year that will not be possible. To limit contact with those outside of our "bubble"- we will not be able to have an open-house.
We will accept whatever families we believe we are able to assist with GIFTS for children - those families will have their children's wish lists shared on our website, we will create an Amazon Wish-List for each family and we will continue to accept monetary donations to help meet those needs.
If more donations come in, or families needs are covered early - we will open MORE spots for families we have not been able to accept initially.
We may have some gently used items that we've already collected that are appropriate for families who have applied for help, and we will pack those as well.
Sponsored Families will be assigned a pick-up location and date between Dec 18-23rd. If you are UNABLE to pick up your family's donations in a 16 hour time slot on the day your agree upon; we will have to move on to another family. We will be in touch with the families to chose dates that work for them, but we will not be able to reschedule these dates and times.
We have PLENTY of Wrapping Paper, Tape, Gift Tags, etc to distribute to anyone who has applied for assistance - sponsored or not.
If we have excess decor / trees / etc we will also contact our standby families to see if they could use these items.
We will contact each applicant family to find out if they need these items.
Why can't someone else step in to replace Kristie this year?
Kristie is basically a one-woman staff each holiday season; She's personally responsible for building & managing our website & handling all social media & photography for the project. With a background in law enforcement, she provides all the background checks, organizing & approving applications, and maintaining contact with those who need our services. She sets up & runs our GoFundMe, as well as maintaining all communication with both our donors and recipient families. Her duties don't end there- every year she schedules & makes the large majority of our donation pickups, while all the drop-offs are done at her house, where her entire family pitches in to collect and sort, organize and maintain all those incoming items.
She and her mother personally maintain the sizes & needs of nearly 150 recipients as they sort, folds and packs thousands of lbs of clothing for distribution, often working until the early morning hours.
Kristie coordinates our minimal volunteer staff, overseeing nearly all of the project's needs and activities & then she personally maintains the lists for each child & packs the donations for each of the sponsored families; making sure each child in each family, receives a fair and equal amount of gifts, as well as the large majority of items they want & need.
She does this for three months each years, all while continuing daily online ads & promotions of the project in order to raise the necessary funds & so we are able to collect all the items necessary to support more and more families each year. We started with just 3 days and collected for a single family with 4 children, last year, we served 164 kids from over 60 families.
Kristie also personally shops for any wish list items that have not been donated in time... and finally, as the project nears a close, she oversees the pickups and/or she and her husband make all the deliveries to the sponsored families.
In the last days leading up to Christmas, she also meets with all of the standby families at our storage units, in an attempt to provide them with as much assistance as possible from the remaining donations & budget, trying to leave no family without whatever help we can offer.
She single-handedly spends 2-3 hours a day working on the website & applications, answering over 100 emails, and sends/receives more than 2500 text messages each week from Oct-January and, often puts in 12-16 hours in person at our storage unit.
I'm sure you can all agree that this is a herculean undertaking; even if we had an entire paid team of employees (which we don't!) - it would be impossible to pull off everything we do each year without her.
As 2020's holiday season approached, Kristie had a lot on her plate. For 7 weeks, at the beginning of her pregnancy, she was laid-up with a debilitating vertigo. While it finally passed as she transitioned to her second trimester in October, her family actively encouraged her to consider the ramifications of attempting to hold the project this year, during a worsening second round of Covid-19 infections - as well as contending with her own chronic health issues on top of what hasn't been an easy pregnancy.
Kristie remained determined not to let everyone down, especially knowing how many people were in need this year more than ever. Through October and into November, she slowly, but as always, took the familiar steps to start this year's project.
Why can't someone else step in to replace Kristie this year?
Kristie is basically a one-woman staff each holiday season; She's personally responsible for building & managing our website & handling all social media & photography for the project. With a background in law enforcement, she provides all the background checks, organizing & approving applications, and maintaining contact with those who need our services. She sets up & runs our GoFundMe, as well as maintaining all communication with both our donors and recipient families. Her duties don't end there- every year she schedules & makes the large majority of our donation pickups, while all the drop-offs are done at her house, where her entire family pitches in to collect and sort, organize and maintain all those incoming items.
She and her mother personally maintain the sizes & needs of nearly 150 recipients as they sort, folds and packs thousands of lbs of clothing for distribution, often working until the early morning hours.
Kristie coordinates our minimal volunteer staff, overseeing nearly all of the project's needs and activities & then she personally maintains the lists for each child & packs the donations for each of the sponsored families; making sure each child in each family, receives a fair and equal amount of gifts, as well as the large majority of items they want & need.
She does this for three months each years, all while continuing daily online ads & promotions of the project in order to raise the necessary funds & so we are able to collect all the items necessary to support more and more families each year. We started with just 3 days and collected for a single family with 4 children, last year, we served 164 kids from over 60 families.
Kristie also personally shops for any wish list items that have not been donated in time... and finally, as the project nears a close, she oversees the pickups and/or she and her husband make all the deliveries to the sponsored families.
In the last days leading up to Christmas, she also meets with all of the standby families at our storage units, in an attempt to provide them with as much assistance as possible from the remaining donations & budget, trying to leave no family without whatever help we can offer.
She single-handedly spends 2-3 hours a day working on the website & applications, answering over 100 emails, and sends/receives more than 2500 text messages each week from Oct-January and, often puts in 12-16 hours in person at our storage unit.
I'm sure you can all agree that this is a herculean undertaking; even if we had an entire paid team of employees (which we don't!) - it would be impossible to pull off everything we do each year without her.
As 2020's holiday season approached, Kristie had a lot on her plate. For 7 weeks, at the beginning of her pregnancy, she was laid-up with a debilitating vertigo. While it finally passed as she transitioned to her second trimester in October, her family actively encouraged her to consider the ramifications of attempting to hold the project this year, during a worsening second round of Covid-19 infections - as well as contending with her own chronic health issues on top of what hasn't been an easy pregnancy.
Kristie remained determined not to let everyone down, especially knowing how many people were in need this year more than ever. Through October and into November, she slowly, but as always, took the familiar steps to start this year's project.
What We're Doing Currently
We will assist families from the physical donations we have already collected during 2020 and we hope to still have the participation of a local Church / School, however, they will not be able to do a Giving-Tree like they have in the past- and the open status of the school between now and Christmas is still very much dependant on how the Corona Virus continues to impact our area: we simply don't know what will happen.
We will still be doing everything humanly possible to assist the families who very much need us- however - the nature and extent of that assistance will be very much changed by the challenges this year has posed.
We will be changing our Program's applications and website immediately- to signify these changes and to prepare families for the differences in this year's program.