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Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley, 25 West 3rd Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015, 610-807-0336, vc@volunteerlv.org
Opportunity Details
{GROUP OPPORTUNITY} Host Annual Holiday Party for Foster/Adoptive Families
The Salvation Army Children's Services is seeking a community partner to host our annual holiday party for our foster and adoptive families. The party is typically held on the first Saturday of December - so December 7, 2024 would be our preferred date although we are open to switching dates if it would work better for an interested group. We are seeking a special partner (a church, company, school, etc.) who would be willing to take on this large event and provide organizational leadership and oversight to the party, pulling together all of the pieces that make it special. This includes:
- LOCATION - offering their own location, or helping us to find a space that can accommodate approximately 150-200 attendees plus volunteers. As mentioned above, our preferred date is Saturday, December 7 from 10 am - noon but we are open to discussing an alternate date/time.
- VOLUNTEERS - providing and/or managing the many volunteers it takes to run this event. We can usually easily recruit a large number of individual and group volunteers if a partner organization would like us to do so, or you can provide your own volunteers.
- DECORATIONS - making the space look festive and fun!
- FOOD - we typically do a hot breakfast buffet and some sort of holiday treats like a hot cocoa bar or cookie decorating station, but we are absolutely open to creativity in this area!
- PHOTO OPS - one of the gifts we love to offer our families at the event is a family photo as well as photos with Santa. We have an amazing Santa who we can bring, but just need backdrops/photo areas and photographers to take and distribute photos to families (i.e. by providing an online gallery or emailing photos)
- PARTY ACTIVITIES - planning the structure of the party, including activities such as craft(s) and games to keep both kids and adults of all ages entertained and having a great time. We can provide ideas of things that have worked well at past parties.
- "COZY CORNER BOUTIQUE" - something new we tried in 2023 that was a huge hit! We distribute donated coats and pajamas every year, but last year we also collected donations of hats, scarves, blankets, stuffies, slippers, etc. and set them out as a "boutique" where children and families could shop for their own cozy items.
- GIFTS AND STOCKINGS - every year, our community generously donates gifts and fills stockings for each of the children that we serve.
- DONATIONS - an interested partner could help us with collecting or soliciting donations such as hosting a donation drive, obtaining donations from businesses for food, coupons, or services for the families, etc.
In past years, the planning and coordination of the party has been done entirely by our staff and this year we are hoping to get some help to free our staff up to be able to connect and interact with our families at the party. Connection is at the heart of everything we do as an agency and we want to be sure we have the opportunity to invest in these important relationships.
Please reach out to Emily if you are interested in learning more about this opportunity. Typically planning meetings start in August. We would like to have a date, time, location, and theme finalized by early October to send out a Save the Date to our families.
Please note: the location listed is our office which is NOT big enough to hold the party. We need to find a location in the community - preferred area is Allentown/Bethlehem and surrounding areas, but we can discuss other options as well!
Children & Youth
Age Minimum (with Adult): 18+, Minimum Age:18+
Express Interest
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