Alumni Holiday Giving
Bringing Holiday Joy to Pennsylvania’s Foster Youth
FosterStrong®’s annual PA Alumni Holiday Giving program brings joy to current and former foster youth in Pennsylvania by collecting and fulfilling holiday wish lists, with a special focus on older teens and young adults who have aged out of care. Community volunteers gather to wrap and deliver gifts, while agencies are invited to submit wish lists for youth ages 18+.
For many years now, our FosterStrong® team has had the immense pleasure of distributing holiday gifts to current and former foster youth in Pennsylvania.
If you are an individual or group seeking to volunteer or donate, contact the FosterStrong® team
If you are a PA county/agency representative wishing to participate, we invite you to send us wish lists for young people in your programs ages 18+. Please review the following Guidelines :
- Gift requests are to be placed for young people 18+ – these young people can be currently in out-of-home placement or aged out.
- If a gift request is placed for a young person who has a child, please put in a request for the child / children.
- All gifts will be delivered to an agency or organization address in care of the staff you indicate on your form. *Exceptions can be made to ship gifts directly to young people away at college, but please indicate that need on your form.
- Keep gifts at $50 or under – The holidays are a super busy time for requests. This ensures more gifts can be purchased, and quickly so they get to their recipient in a timely manner.
- Gifts must be appropriate – No requests for any items displaying or promoting violence/profanity/racism/etc.
- If possible, include a link to the requested gift item.
- If you request a gift card, please include 2-3 stores that are preferred.
Lastly, please be thoughtful in asking young people what they truly want. Each year we come across wish requests for essential items (sheet sets, toiletries, schoolbooks) which should not be a holiday gift.
We want to ensure that we are bringing these amazing young people some holiday joy and letting them know there is a community of people just like them who can flourish after foster care.
This initiative has grown tremendously each year and would not be possible without the support of amazing volunteers and local community partners. Our annual PA Alumni Holiday Giving is the highlight of our year!
