Holiday spirit drives Hillside Special Santas deposits up this year

This holiday season, the spirit of giving is driving the number of Hillside Special Santa gift deposits at all Canandaigua National Bank & Trust branches up.

That is good news, because Hillside Special Santas this year will help more than 5,900 youth from 4,000 families across New York served by Hillside Family of Agencies.

Hillside Special Santas is working to meet this gift goal by partnering with businesses and organizations to extend the opportunity to those in the community to help make the holidays brighter for youth and families.

As Hillside Special Santas Community Partners, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust branches will display hundreds of Hillside Special Santas gift tags, each one describing a specific child’s wish, this year on holiday trees in their lobbies. Visitors to the any of the bank branches are asked to take a tag from the tree home and purchase a corresponding gift. New, unwrapped gifts should be deposited by December 17 to the Canandaigua National Bank & Trust location where they picked up the gift tag.

“The partnership with Canandaigua National Bank has been a true gift. It is a unique opportunity to focus on each organization’s commitment to building a positive spirit throughout the community,” says Sally Bohne, Hillside Special Santas director.

Last year alone, more than 1,400 gifts for Hillside Special Santas were deposited at Canandaigua National Bank branches.

What one person knows about Hillside and Hillside Special Santas

We just wanted to share with all of the Hillside Special Santas blog readers a comment that came into Hillside Family of Agencies via a question on the homepage asking “What do you know about Hillside?”

“I have heard about Hillside for years, but never really had any personal experience or contact. Recently, I was in Honeoye Falls at Custom BrewCrafters and saw a Christmas tree with children's names on it. Once I realized what it was, I took two cards from the tree. I'm looking forward to making purchases to make Christmas memorable and special for these little ones. What a great idea this is and I'm grateful for organizations like Hillside who take the time and effort to make Christmas and the holidays something more for kids than "just another day. Thank you.”

The cards this person took were Hillside Special Santas gift tags that our community partner Custom Brewcrafters displayed in their lobby. We thank them and this anonymous respondent for their efforts in helping to make the holiday brighter for the children and families Hillside serves.

Stories and photos from Novemeber 19 event

Here a couple of links to news stories on RNews and News 8 Now about the event held on November 19 to celebrate the start of Hillside Special Santas for the 27th year.

RNews: http://tinyurl.com/5azsa4

News 8 Now: http://tinyurl.com/6owho4

Also, here are some photos from the event. As you'll see from the news coverage, Fourth and Fifth graders from Gates-Chili's Neil Armstrong Elementary School service club came and served as "gift experts." They made the event fun, and helped us all to remember what Hillside Special Santas is all about.

Drive in and help out this holiday season

This holiday season, people that drive in to Driver’s Village will be able to help out youth and families throughout the community.

As a Hillside Special Santas Community Partner, Driver’s Village will display hundreds of Hillside Special Santas gift tags-each one describing a specific child’s wish-this year in the center of the inside shoppes. Visitors to Driver’s Village are asked to take a tag home after their visit, and purchase a corresponding gift. New, unwrapped gifts should be returned by December 13 to Driver’s Village.

This is the first year that Driver's Village is a Hillside Special Santas Community Partner, and Hillside Special Santas Director Sally Bohne says their participation is “truly a gift.”

“Driver's Village shows true dedication to youth and families by the simple act of making Hillside Special Santas gift tags available to the many people that visit their location," says Bohne.

Donations to Hillside Special Santas dropped off at Driver’s Village will benefit more than 5,900 youth from 4,000 families served by Hillside Family of Agencies, including hundreds of youth and families from Syracuse and the surrounding communities.

Holiday giving does a body good

This holiday season, the Buffalo Athletic Clubs are not just places where people can get in shape. They’re also places where people can do their bodies good by giving back to the community.

As Hillside Special Santas Community Partners, the Buffalo Athletic Club (BAC) will display hundreds of Hillside Special Santas gift tags, each one describing a specific child’s wish, this year in their lobbies. BAC patrons and visitors to any of the BAC locations are asked to take a tag home after a workout, and purchase a corresponding gift. New, unwrapped gifts should be returned by December 17 to the BAC location where they picked up the gift tag.

Hillside Special Santas Director Sally Bohne veiws the three-year partnership with the BAC as a unique opportunity to focus on each organization’s commitment to healthy living, wellness, and working to build a positive spirit throughout the community.

Last year alone, patrons that came to the BAC helped to collect more than 700 gifts for Hillside Special Santas. This holiday season, donations to Hillside Special Santas dropped off at the BAC will benefit more than 5,900 youth from 4,000 families served by Hillside Family of Agencies.

Doors open on this year's giving effort

The doors are officially open for the 2008 Hillside Special Santas holiday giving effort in Rochester and the surrounding areas.

A ceremony was held today at Eastman Hall on Hillside Children’s Center’s Monroe Avenue campus to mark the occasion. The event commemorated the start of the 27th year that Hillside Special Santas and the program’s Community Partners will work together in a giving spirit to provide new, unwrapped gifts to more than 5,900 youth and their families served by Hillside Family of Agencies.

“The growth of Hillside Special Santas and what it has meant to the youth and families is truly reflective of that special human quality that is shown when there are others in need,” says Sally Bohne, Hillside Special Santas director.

The special quality Bohne talks about is also shown through the commitment that several businesses in the region have made this year to help Hillside Special Santas reach its goal to provide more than 17,700 gifts this holiday season.

One such Community Partner was on hand at the opening ceremony. Sue Schiffhauer from the Rochester Athletic Club (RAC) joined in the festivities and celebrated their third year of displaying hundreds of Hillside Special Santas gift tags, each one describing a specific child’s wish, in their lobbies. RAC patrons and visitors are asked to take a tag home after a workout, and purchase a corresponding gift. New, unwrapped gifts should be returned to the RAC location where they picked up the gift tag.

“The partnership with the Rochester Athletic Club is a unique opportunity to focus on each organization’s commitment to healthy living, wellness, and working to build a positive spirit throughout the community,” says Bohne.

In photo: Sue from RAC is on the left next to Sally. Look for more pictures here soon from the event!

Good food and the opportunity to do good

This holiday season, the Duchess Restaurant in Penfield, NY is not just serving up good food. They’re serving up an opportunity to do good, too.

As a Hillside Special Santas Community Partner, Duchess Restaurant will display hundreds of Hillside Special Santas gift tags, each one describing a specific child’s wish, this year. Diners at the restaurant are asked to take a tag home after enjoying their meal, and purchase a corresponding gift. New, unwrapped gifts should be returned by December 17 to the restaurant.

“The partnership with Duchess is truly a gift,” says Sally Bohne, Hillside Special Santas director. “The simple act of making Hillside Special Santas gift tags available to the many people that eat at Duchess Restaurant demonstrates a true dedication to youth and families.”

Last year alone, patrons that came to the restaurant located on helped to collect more than 400 gifts for Hillside Special Santas.

It's that time of year again in Syracuse!

Hillside Special Santas announces that it is partnering with Y94FM, News 10 Now, Regal Cinemas, and Carousel Center to collect new, unwrapped gifts this holiday season in an effort to extend to the community the opportunity to make the holidays more meaningful for Central New York youth and families Hillside Family of Agencies serves.

The effort will kick off on Saturday, November 22 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Carousel Center first level outside the H&M store. Y94FM's Kathy Rowe and her morning crew, as well as Lacey Johnson from News 10 Now will be on hand during the event.

Everyone donating a new, unwrapped gift during the kickoff event will receive a special thank you gift, while supplies last. In addition, people stopping by the drop off location can register to win tickets from Y94FM to the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra's Holiday Pops concert in December.

The gift collection drive will be ongoing at Carousel Center until Tuesday, December 17. During that time, two Hillside Special Santas-decorated gift collection boxes will be placed in the mall. One will be outside of Old Navy and the other will be near the main entrance to H&M.

Hillside Special Santas will help more than 5,900 youth from 4,000 families served by Hillside Family of Agencies this holiday season. Donations of new, unwrapped gifts help to make the holiday season brighter for local youth and families in need.

Hillside Special Santas solves a holiday dilemma

Hillside Special Santas knows how to solve the dilemma of picking out the perfect gift for teens during the holidays. Let them choose the gift!

By choosing gifts and donating them to Hillside Special Santas, teens in Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo, and the surrounding areas make a difference in the life of one or more of their peers during the holidays.

This holiday season, Hillside Special Santas will help more than 5,900 youth from 4,000 families served by Hillside Family of Agencies. The majority of those youth are teenagers.

“Teens often tell me that it is fun for them to go shopping and pick out gifts to donate to Hillside Special Santas. They say it gives them a good feeling because they know the gifts will help other teens that are need in their community,” says Sally Bohne, Hillside Special Santas director.

Bohne, along with all of the members of the Hillside Special Santas staff, encourage teens to consider joining in the fun and becoming Hillside Special Santas this year to help make the holiday season brighter for local youth and their families that are in need.

Teens can help teens by collecting pennies this holiday season

It’s time to look under the sofa cushions and gather up all of the loose change. The 98 PXY High School Challenge is about to begin, and it is a way teens in the Greater Rochester area can make a difference in the lives of other teens this holiday season.

Friday November 7, 14, and 21 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. in the Bon Ton wing of the Marketplace Mall, 98PXY’s Kasper will be live on the air and accepting pennies in support of area high schools. The Rochester area high school that collects the most pennies will win a free concert at the school by national recording artist Donnie Klang. Advantage Federal Credit Union will be counting the pennies to determine the winning school.

“It’s my favorite time of year! I look forward to raising money for the children of Hillside, and making this year bigger and better than ever,” says 98PXY’s Kasper.

Proceeds from the 98PXY High School Challenge will benefit Hillside Special Santas. Hillside Special Santas will help more than 5,900 youth from 4,000 families served by Hillside Family of Agencies this holiday season.

“Teens often tell me that collecting the pennies and donating them during the 98PXY High School Challenge gives them a good feeling because they know the money will help other teens and their families that are in need right here in our community,” says Sally Bohne, Hillside Special Santas manager.

In addition to the 98 PXY High School Challenge, another fun way for teens to help teens this holiday season is by clicking on the Hillside Special Santas Reindeer at Hillside.com. Teens can also call Hillside Special Santas at (585) 256-7630 for ideas about how to get started.