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.

How one elementary school is sharing the spirit of the season

Students in Gates-Chili’s Neil Armstrong Elementary School service club this year are orchestrating a school-wide toy collection drive to benefit Hillside Special Santas this year.

According to Danielle Hoch, fifth grade teacher and service club advisor, the students will be collecting toys until Thursday, December 13. The service club project supports The 40 Developmental Assets of student involvement in the community and the Gates Chili school district.

The students in the service club were in charge of making the posters to promote the toy drive, as well as collect the toys, and deliver them to Hillside Special Santas.

“The kids are super excited and are anticipating the drive’s turn out,” says Hoch, noting that as a community over 12 boxes of toys have been collected thus far with two more days to go.

The Neil Armstrong faculty also wanted to contribute, and as a result, Hoch says they have collected over three boxes of items from the Hillside Special Santas Top 10 list.

The students plan on delivering the gifts to Hillside Special Santas headquarters at 1183 Monroe Avenue in Rochester on Friday, December 14.

This year, Hillside Special Santas has expanded to help more than 5,600 children and their families served by Hillside Family of Agencies in Western and Central New York, so the donations could not have come at a better time.

“For the students to put forth such an effort is truly reflective of that special human quality that is shown when there are others in need,” says Sally Bohne, Hillside Special Santas manager.

For more information on becoming a Hillside Special Santa like the members of the Neil Armstrong Elementary School’s service club, call (585) 256-7630, email santa@hillside.com, or follow the reindeer at www.hillside.com.

Deloitte & Touche help out Hillside Special Santas

A great group of Deloitte & Touche employees from the firm's Rochester office stepped up and spent a good portion of the day volunteering. Thank you so much for your efforts!

Look who's volunteering at Special Santas headquarters

Monroe County Clerk Cheryl Dinolfo, second from the left, and some of her staff members (Justin Roj, far left; Diana Christodaro, second from the right) spent a morning volunteering at Hillside Special Santa headquarters. Joining them in this photo is our very own Sally Bohne.

Sally and the media

All of the TV stations in Rochester came out to cover the Hillside Special Santas headquarters opening ceremony November 28. Here are a few photos from when they interviewed Sally. The reporter is RNews weekend night anchor Rocco Vertuccio.

It's CRUNCH time!

The Syracuse Crunch and News 10 Now are partnering to help Hillside Special Santas this year. You can, too, by dropping off a new, unwrapped gift at the November 23, 30, and December 1 games.

For more info, check out here or here.

On the inside with the Syracuse Crunch

Sally Bohne, Hillside Special Santas manager, recently took some time out from her duties at Special Santas Headquarters to travel to the OnCenter, home of the Syracuse Crunch Hockey Club. She went inside their locker room to talk to the team about Special Santas and what their help meant to her, and the youth and families that are being helped this year.
“They’ve rejuvenated us. Their desire to help the kids and families was just exciting,” said Sally after her locker room talk.
Joining Sally was Heather Van Dyne, Special Santas assistant, and Teri Parks, News 10 Now marketing manager.

The signs are up!

Guess what?!?

The Hillside Special Santas signs are up at Hillside Family of Agencies locations.


This is a sure "sign" (sorry, couldn't help it :-)) that the holiday season is upon us. And, it won't be too long before Hillside Special Santas Headquarters opens.

We here at Hillside Special Santas are working on a really special celebration to commemorate the opening this year, so be sure to check back for news on that soon!

Until then, we'd love to hear your Hillside Special Santas story. Tell it to us here. Thanks!

Hillside Special Santas offers hope during the holiday season

Becoming a Hillside Special Santa impacts the lives of so many youth and families throughout central and western New York during the holidays. Here are just a few of the stories about how much your support means to the children and families Hillside serves:

· A family in Crestwood Children’s Center services was too proud to tell anyone they couldn’t afford holiday gifts for their children. A staff member visited the parents one evening bringing toys, books, and a warm sweater for the younger children, and a football, hand-held video game, and Buffalo Bills sweatshirt for the 12-year-old boy. The parents were also given a gift card to a local grocery store so they could purchase special holiday treats. “Who do we thank?” they asked and were told it was a Hillside Special Santa.

· Lia was in a Hillside residential treatment cottage (RTC) last year. She was pretty angry with the world. Her family had been through lots of turmoil and, as a 14-year-old girl with severe behavioral issues, she had been placed in foster homes before coming to Hillside. Lia was not able to be at home during the holidays, so the RTC staff members arranged a holiday time for the family to spend together in the cottage. They shared gifts, made special treats to eat, and played their new games thanks to Hillside Special Santas. At the end of the school year, Lia moved back home and is now attending a Hillside day treatment program.

· A frightened and sad 11-year-old boy and his nine-year-old sister were placed in Hillside therapeutic foster care just before the holidays. They were hoping for adoptive parents and wanted to stay together. An urgent call was placed to Hillside Special Santas for some gifts for these siblings. Since donors were asking what we still needed, we were able to get exactly what they wanted. The siblings were adopted by their foster parents the following Spring. This year they will celebrate a very special holiday as a family.

Thanks to the more than 25 years of generous support from of all of the Special Santas in the community, Hillside Family of Agencies is able to reach out to thousands of youth and families just like in the stories mentioned here each year through Hillside Special Santas.

Individuals, families, students, community groups, businesses, religious organizations, and all others are urged to consider becoming Hillside Special Santas this year and helping to make the holiday season brighter for local youth and their families that are in need.

To learn how to become a Hillside Special Santa, call (585) 256-7630 or follow the reindeer at www.Hillside.com.

Also, if you have a Hillside Special Santas story, let us know. We look forward to your comments.