St. Lucy’s Christmas Gift Giving Program

Hi, My name is Kay Scharoun and along with Nick Salibrici we are raising funds for our 2023 annual Christmas Gift Giving Program. This program benefits individuals and families who live in the poorest neighborhood in Syracuse, N.Y. Each year over 100 volunteers donate money, gifts and their time to support this program. We collect donations all year for this one day give away. Purchased gifts are stored year round in a warehouse which was unfortunately burglarized in early September and literally every item was stolen. All that was left were the bins items were stored in. Because we were receiving donated space in the warehouse and are not paying customers we will not be given any insurance reimbursement. We lost upwards of $18,000 in merchandise. Consequently we are starting from scratch attempting to raise funds to purchase what we lost. This year we are anticipating serving more than 300 families which includes approximately 250 adults and 700 children. During the gift give-a-way people receive (all new) clothing, ( sweaters, shirts, robes, PJ's, coats, hats, gloves, etc.) household items, ( toasters, coffee makers, blankets, sheets, dishes, towels, etc.) toys, books, arts & crafts items for the children, personal hygiene kits (soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, electric razors, etc.) and much more. Gift wrap and gift bags are also given out. Many volunteers work hard to make this a special day for the people we serve. No one is paid for helping. It is a 100% volunteer effort. Now you know what we do and why we need help. Please consider donating to help us bring this event back to life. Everything donated will be put directly toward this program. Thank you!

We just recently increased our goal to raise additional funds for what we are anticipating will be the cost of finding secure warehouse space.

We are so thankful for all the help we have received. We believe we will be able to make this event happen because of your generosity and support .

we raised our goal once again because our shoppers are not finding great bargains and consequently our money is not going as far as it does when we are getting winter clearance prices in February and March.

we continue to find everyone’s generosity and kindness extraordinary. Your donations will go a long way toward making our gift giving program a success.