The 2024 holiday season may have come to a close, but the annual Holiday Helping Hand fundraising collaboration from the Poughkeepsie Journal and the United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region is still underway.
Donations to Holiday Helping Hand are being accepted to fund Dutchess County programs that aid local children and families through gift card giveaways, breakfasts with Santa and holiday dinners.
The funds collected during this holiday season will be distributed in the following holiday season. Your generosity will help families through the 2025 holidays.
For over 40 years the drive has raised money in the county, and $24,130.38 in donations received helped programs to function this holiday season.
Community Family Development (CFD), located in the City of Poughkeepsie, is one of the programs assisted by the Holiday Helping Hand campaign, and gift cards were distributed to 20 of the families who participated in one of CFD's programs.
"We typically have anywhere from 80 to 100 families at any given time in our programs," said Jaime Hyla, CEO of CFD, "so we were able to give those to our families, and that really makes an impact in the holiday season for them to be able to provide gifts for their children."
All donations go directly to Dutchess County organizations to serve those in need.
To donate, visit uwdor.org/HHH24 or mail a check to Holiday Helping Hand, United Way of the Dutchess-Orange Region, 75 Market St., Poughkeepsie, NY 12601. Checks should be made payable to Holiday Helping Hand.
From Dec. 20 to Jan. 2, the following donations have been made to the 2024-25 Holiday Helping Hand campaign, totaling $4,052.18:
- Stephanie & William Matthews, $100
- Mr. & Mrs. John Varricchio, $100
- In Memory of Sandra T. Vana, From Llmar Vana, $100
- In Memory of Josie Vaughan, $10
- Donna Virgilio Stanley, $50
- In Memory of Charles and Shirley Saylor, From Charles B. Saylor, $125
- James J. Mullen, $175
- Colleen Daley, $25
- Anonymous, $50
- Dutchess County Home Bureau, $60
- Gerald & Helene Lutz, $25
- Richard & Maureen Taylor, $100
- Victor & Ellen Stern, $60
- In Memory of Vincent Mullen and James O'Neill, From Michael Mullen & Erin O'Neill, $200
- Virginia Fishwick, $20
- In Memory of Edward & Alma Poplawski, From Lisa Ann Poplawski, $250
- Theresa & Patrick O'Neill, $50
- Angela & Peter Fatzinger, $150
- In Memory of The Baldwin and Cotton Families, From Michael & Carol Cotton, $100
- Shirley Ranieri, $50
- Barbara Zawadzinsky, $50
- Carol Gray, $50
- From Amy H. Lynch in Memory of Her Parents Mary B. and F. Philip Hoag, $30
- Barry & Jacqueline Hutchings, $25Nancy & Bruce Raymond, $100
- In Memory of My Parents, From L. Eugene Breglia, Jr., $100
- In Memory of Ron Creeden, From Maureen Creeden, $100
- Diane Kloosterman, $25.66
- Gerald and Judy Webb, $100
- Marie "Mia" Anderson, $51.32
- Eileen Duncan, $102.65
- Neal Calvin, $10.26
- Anthony Gorey, $51.32
- Katherine Hogan, $205.31
- Ann Gross, $25.66
- David and Judith Longacre, $25
- Rachel Reisman, $100
- From the Polikoff Family, $55
- Edgar & Phyllis Stamy, $30
- Carl & Marie Garofolo, $25
- In Memory of Joseph & Lillian Monte, From Michael & Teresa Caruso, $50
- Stuart J. Leydon, $10
- Anonymous, $100
- Ann A. Weeks, $100
- Mr. & Mrs. Jesse Sutherland, $50
- Allan L. Haines, $50
- Rosemary & Alan Thomas, $250
- Thad and Mildred Jones, $200
- In Memory of John Murnin, $50
- In Memory of Raymond and Helen Hawk, From John Hawk, $30
- In Memory of Erin Shanley, From Valerie Shanley, $100
Original Source: Poughkeepsie Journal