Our Story
Yesterday and Today in Hood River County
Since 1923, families in need have received help at Christmas in Hood River County. Close to 900 households in 2022 received food boxes, grocery gift cards, and toys or teen gift cards (for households with kids). You can click on either button to donate online, or you can download a form to mail along with a check. Your donations at any time help us continue this work. Thank you!
Help Out in 2023!
Thank you for your help in 2022! Thanks to your generosity, we were able to support more than 850 households, and more than 3,000 people.
The Christmas Project team is entirely volunteer-managed. We have no paid employees. Your donation goes only to support the Christmas Project work.
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In 2023, we have a lot of work to do to improve our service and celebrate 100 years of community assistance at Christmas. Please reach out if you'd like to volunteer (people needed on projects year round), partner with us on a fundraiser, or participate with your business in the Tree of Joy (which matches kids and seniors in need with donors who purchase a gift for them). Some of the volunteer needs we have already in 2023 are listed here.
Caring For Others Since 1923
Our mission is to provide assistance with food and children's gifts during the Christmas holiday season to families and seniors in need living in Hood River County. These efforts help alleviate suffering and maintain human dignity during a significant time of the year.
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Since 1923, caring neighbors in Hood River County have joined together to raise funds to buy food and gifts for those in need at Christmas. The local Elks lodge began the tradition in 1923, and by 2021, more than 300 volunteers and dozens of local businesses work to bring joy to seniors, families in need, and kids in foster care.
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Food and Gifts for Families
For most of our families, the Christmas Project helps relieve some of the stress associated with the Christmas holiday, when family members' expectations are at their highest. There are also a number of families where the Christmas Project's food and toys are just about the only items on the table and underneath the tree.
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In 2020, in the first Covid-19 winter, we registered 891 local families who received a food gift card appropriate for their family size. In 2022, we served 890 households - almost the same as the first pandemic year.
Tree of Joy
Another part of the annual Christmas Project story is the Tree of Joy. The Tree of Joy assembles a "wish list" from seniors in need and foster kids in the county. Local businesses and individual donors then take "wish tag" and make that wish come true by buying new, unwrapped gifts for the person they are supporting. Volunteers from the Christmas Project gather all the gifts and then deliver the gifts back to the agencies caring for that person or child.
2022 continued our service to the community. With the support of the Hood River County community, and grants from local, state, and national organizations, we served almost 900 households, along with close to another 100 foster kids plus seniors isolated in local care centers.
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In 2021 we served 802 households - more than 3,400 people. Do you want to help us out in 2023? Please reach out to us - we'd love your help!