Christmas with Mercy

Ho! Ho! Ho! It’s that time of year again! We are collecting toys for our popular Christmas with Mercy program and we need your help! Help spread the joy of giving this Christmas by donating toys for our Christmas with Mercy program! We are hoping to give toys to over 450 families this year, averaging over 1,000 children! We need lots of help in order to make this possible! We will be accepting NEW toys (valued at $25 or more) until December 1st.

Ways to make this possible:

1. Please consider hosting a Toy Drive! Please reach out to Rebecca Wire, our Outreach Coordinator, at rwire[at]houseofmercyva.org to receive flyers and a collection bin

2. Visit our Amazon WishList and pick out toys to be shipped directly to us!

3. Drop off toys directly! You can drop off your donation in our Thrift Store at 8182 Flannery Court in the designated bins.

EVENT INFORMATION

Date and Time: Clients selected will be contacted via phone to schedule their appointment.
Location: House of Mercy Food Pantry
Donations Accepted: Now – December 8th

For Volunteers:

Help spread the joy of giving this Christmas by volunteering at our Christmas with Mercy program. We are expecting to hand out toys to over 400 families this year, averaging over 1,000 children. We need lots of help in order to make this possible! A volunteer sign-up will be available soon! 

We not only need volunteers for the days of the event, but also the weeks prior for setting up, sorting gifts and decorating! Please read through the description of the roles carefully, as certain duties have age restrictions. If there’s any confusion, please email Kyle Johnson, Volunteer Manager, at kjohnson[at]houseofmercyva.org

Please note, children,  15 years old  and younger, may volunteer but they must be accompanied by an adult. All volunteers must be able to attentively listen to instructions and accurately follow them.

For Clients:

To be eligible for our Christmas with Mercy lottery, you must be a registered client with children in the household and be actively receiving services. Families will be selected via a random lottery. We will be contacting the randomly selected clients after Thanksgiving to schedule their appointments.

SIGN UP: We have limited space and slots available – everyone MUST be signed up (Ex: child and accompanying adult) if you wish to volunteer. Unfortunately, if your name is not on the sign-up, you will not be able to participate that day. We have lots of spots available; if your first choice is full, please consider trying another role! We have a great need for volunteers in order to make the event run smoothly.

REQUIRED FORMS: This year we are requiring all volunteers to be a registered volunteer of House of Mercy (this entails having completed the application process and background check) OR complete the attached one-day volunteer waiver (the waiver must be completed and emailed to kjohnson@houseofmercyva.org OR brought in person on the day you volunteer)

MEDIA RELEASE: By participating in Christmas with Mercy, you give permission for House of Mercy to take video and photographs to utilize in future media and promotion. If you do not wish to have your photograph taken, please notify a staff member prior to the event and we will make arrangements.

Christmas with Mercy

Can’t get out to the store? Consider ordering a toy from our Amazon wishlist and it will be delivered directly to House of Mercy! Click the image below to view the list.