Basking Ridge Volunteers Offer Hope For Children In Need During Holidays

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — For more than 30 years, a group of volunteers in Basking Ridge have made it their mission to provide holiday cheer to children in need.

Now once again, Holiday Hope, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Basking Ridge, is looking for people to consider sponsoring a child, hosting a giving tree or giving a monetary donation.

The organization was originally formed in 1991 and called Christmas for Children. It ran for many years before the founder moved to Texas.

The organization continued to grow and eventually in 2023 the group split off and changed its name to Holiday Hope to be more inclusive to all children.

Treasurer for Holiday Hope Karen Vaias is one of the founding members of Holiday Hope. Vaias said last year they helped almost 1,200 kids.

"It'll only be our second year as Holiday Hope, but we're doing the same things we always were," said Vaias.

Holiday Hope will sponsor specific children in need with each child receiving three things - something they want, something they need, and something educational.

"We will sometimes use what are called giving trees, and we will split those three wishes up on a tree, and people can take one or more and fulfill the wishes. Then we bag everything up," said Vaias.

The group takes the hundreds of black plastic bags and distributes them to the 25 different agencies they work with including a number of different social agencies mostly in New Jersey, but also one in the Bronx, New York. Then the gifts are distributed to the families.

Holiday Hope sponsors children who range in age from birth to 16.

"We get some kids that the things they say that they want are sheets. It's not even fancy sheets. They just want it for their beds which kind of gives you context," said Vaias.

Vaias got involved with the organization when her daughter, who is now 30, was a toddler. She wanted to get her daughter involved in some volunteer work that she could understand.

"We sponsored a kid the first couple of years. And I would try to get kids that were roughly her age. She would help me pick things out. Over the years, we got more involved. She actually helped with some of the behind-the-scenes work. So that was kind of something we always did together while she still lived at home," said Vaias.

With the holidays fast approaching, Holiday Hope is looking for people to sponsor a child, volunteer with the group, or make a monetary donation.

For more information on how to help, volunteer, or donate to Holiday Hope visit holidayhopechildren.org or follow facebook.com or email HolidayHopeChildren@gmail.com.

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