Where Can I Get Christmas Help for Needy Low Income Families?

Christmas should be a joyful time but I find myself worried, I want to give my children the best Christmas ever for 2013 and wanted to know where I can get Christmas help for needy low income families? We are both on low incomes and we have 7 wonderful children who we adore, we want to give them the best Christmas ever so any help we can get towards food, clothes, presents, gifts, and outings would be greatly appreciated. I have heard some great things about this site and hopefully you can help me to help my children. I don't think I'll have any money left over for Christmas and I don't want to get into debt or take out any payday loans. Looking forward already to your suggestions.

Have you tried asking your school for information? believe it or not your school will have a lot of information on how to get help for children especially during Christmas. The school counselor has a responsibility for the well being of the child and will have links and contacts to the following

- Christmas Charities
- Food Banks
- Clothes Charities

They will also have information on all the benefits and assistance programs your child could be entitled to, seriously get in touch with your school counselor and ask them for help. If I were you I would do it now before everyone starts making requests. Good Luck.

Ok this is what I would do. I would get a map and draw out a 10 mile radius on where I live, I would clearly mark out all the charities, churches, synagogues, mosques, community centers and also local businesses if you have time. I would then collect email addresses and telephone numbers and then send a hardship email asking all these organizations for help. You could also call them one by one to explain your circumstances and see if they are able to offer you assistance. Seriously if you start early enough and get yourself organized you can have the best Christmas ever for your children.

If you need help with food you should definitely check to see if there are any food banks or food pantries in your area. When you contact them ask them if they offer Christmas assistance towards food such as Turkey and other party items, I am sure that these organizations get lots of donations during Christmas so if you sign up early enough you'll be eligible for help, here is a link to find your local Food Bank.

Food Banks for Christmas Assistance

This may be a long shot but someone I know does it all the time. Call your TV network or Radio Station and ask them for help, these organizations give a lot of money to help people in the community, they also have the contacts and the link to point you in the right direction. They can give you information on local community services, food banks, Christmas assistance programs and many more. Just call them up now and ask for the Customer Relations department and then explain your circumstances and ask them for help, it just might work.

The Salvation Army is really helpful during Christmas, when I was facing similar troubles in the past providing for Christmas they really helped out. I was given a Christmas Tree, presents for my children and even food for Christmas day. The key is contacting them early so that they can put your name on the list and give you the stuff you want. I have a link below which will take you to the Salvation Army site where you can start to make your inquiries.

Salvation Army Christmas Assistance

I'm really glad that you're preparing yourself to give your kids the best Christmas ever, some parents don't even bother until it's to late. You're a great parent!

Anyway have you heard of a charity called Family Giving Tree, this is a non profit organization. During Christmas they take requests for presents for children and ask the the network of communities they have to help make these requests come true. These spaces are usually limited, if I was you I would contact them as soon as possible and then register a present for the children.

If you were in the military or are in the military then you could get help towards your Christmas Tree, sometimes you could even get a real tree for free. The Christmas Spirit Foundation offer help towards the help of Christmas in terms of decorations and tree so it's definitely worth getting in touch with them. Even if you're not a military family you could just email them and ask them for assistance.

There are some great recommendations here, if you get cracking contacting all the charities and non profit organization you'll have a great Christmas. The only organization I could find was the Holiday Project, this is another nonprofit which helps families to celebrate Christmas by offering them help in some way, the project is run my volunteers so you need to contact them as soon as possible to see if you're eligible for help.

This is a great thread, I'm sure it's going to help so many people, I agree that getting your requests in early is the key to a successful Christmas.

I found some non profit organizations which I've listed below that might be able to help you.

Operation Santa - Get a Christmas card and possibly present mailed to you kids from the one and only Santa.

Wish Upon a Hero - Make wishes and they might just come true - You need to apply early.

List of Christmas Charities by State

Try asking Food Pantries for help, I've bookmarked their homepage where you can search for a local food pantry that might offer you food parcels during Christmas.

Food Pantries

Here are all the Food Panties by State

• Alaska (139)
• Alabama (367)
• Arkansas (428)
• Arizona (314)
• California (550)
• Colorado (59)
• Connecticut (387)
• District of Columbia (30)
• Delaware (68)
• Florida (746)
• Georgia (315)
• Hawaii (104)
• Iowa (143)
• Idaho (164)
• Illinois (395)
• Indiana (500)
• Kansas (62)
• Kentucky (61)
• Louisiana (197)
• Massachusetts (416)
• Maryland (68)
• Maine (291)
• Michigan (729)
• Minnesota (587)
• Missouri (269)
• Mississippi (165)

• Montana (128)
• North Carolina (358)
• North Dakota (141)
• Nebraska (55)
• New Hampshire (280)
• New Jersey (403)
• New Mexico (400)
• Nevada (20)
• New York (1071)
• Ohio (471)
• Oklahoma (334)
• Oregon (242)
• Pennsylvania (138)
• Rhode Island (131)
• South Carolina (136)
• South Dakota (9)
• Tennessee (74)
• Texas (262)
• Utah (146)
• Virginia (221)
• Vermont (155)
• Washington (164)
• Wisconsin (69)
• West Virginia (118)
• Wyoming (14)

Credit: Food Panties

Hope this helps.

Thanks for sharing this list, nice to have all the information in one place.

Have you tried Connect2Help? They offer a 211 service which is manned by specialists who know of all the Christmas assistance programs in your state or province. If you can get all the information early from this service and sign up for all the holiday programs you can really give your family a great Christmas. Good Luck.

I have bookmarked some of the assistance programs they offer.

• Holiday Programs and Assistance
• Food, Clothing, and Household Items
• Housing and Utilities
• Transportation
• Employment and Income Support
• Family Support and Parenting
• Health Care and Disability Services
• Mental Health and Counseling
• Substance Abuse and Other Addictions
• Support Groups
• Government and Community Services
• Legal, Consumer, and Financial Management Services
• Education, Recreation, and the Arts
• Donations and Volunteering
• Special Populations

Holiday Programs and Assistance

• Holiday Gifts/Toys
• Christmas BasketsThanksgiving Baskets
• Christmas MealsThanksgiving Meals

Toys for Tots is a great charity which helps needy and low income families, the best way to get a hold of their details in your state is by dialing 211 and asking them about any of the organizations or programs that support toys for Tots. If you can prove that you are on a low income or have a needy/disabled family you can get relatively new toys for all your kids. You can find all the details below, hope it helps.

Toys for Tots Charities

Request a Toy from Toys for Tots

The toys are donated by the following sponsors



You can also donate toys here.

The Christmas Tree Angel from the Salvation Army

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet (couldn't find it on the thread). The Salvation Army Christmas Program helps low income families and needy individuals with meals, clothes, gifts. The charity tries to make Christmas as comfortable and celebratory as possible. You can find all the locations of the Salvation Army Here.

The Jon Bon Jovi Soul Foundation runs a soup kitchen and they are likely to offer Christmas meals at Christmas. If you're homeless and have nowhere to go then it's worth visiting this website to see if you can get a free Christmas meal.

Jon Bon Jovi Kitchen

JON BON JOVI SOUL FOUNDATION:
1635 MARKET STREET, 17TH FLOOR
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103
INFO@JBJSOULFOUNDATION.ORG
215-636-0420

The JBJ Soul Foundation also helps family facing financial despair, so if you've got money problems and need help for Christmas then it's really worth visiting this site.