9th Annual "Letter Writing to Santa" Kits Fundraiser (organized by my boys)

Every year, my boys raise money for charity as part of their Christmas celebrations. In fact, they have been hosting a "Letter Writing to Santa" Fundraiser annually since 2011. In the past, we have hosted a party, but the few years, we have sold "kits" instead of hosting an event. It's a great way for people to take part in our fundraiser at a time that is convenient for them. This year my three boys raised $315 for Cystic Fibrosis in honour of their 7 year old cousin who has the disease.

We posted the details on Facebook, and waited for people to place their orders.

Then, my boys got to work filling orders. Each kit contained supplies for writing a letter to Santa, magic reindeer food, supplies to make a Christmas ornament, a package of hot chocolate, and a homemade cookie. The boys worked hard putting all the elements of the kits together.

Look at these proud faces as they hold the $300 they raised. I couldn't be more proud at how kind my boys are, and I am super-grateful for the support they receive each year.

I love the idea of using the holidays as an excuse for charitable giving, and I love that my boys organize this fundraiser and do all the work required to assemble the kits. I hope my boys continue this tradition for many years to come!

♥
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Planning a Christmas Fundraiser with Kids

My boys have been hosting a "Letter Writing to Santa" Fundraiser annually since 2011. In the past, we have hosted a party, but the last couple of years, we have sold "kits" instead of hosting an event. It's a great way for people to take part in on fundraiser at a time that is convenient for them. This year my three boys raised $250 for Cystic Fibrosis in honour of their 6 year old cousin that has the disease.

I'm pretty proud of my boys, and I think teaching the to give back during the holiday season is really important. Here's how we organized our fundraiser:

1) I posted the details on Facebook.

2) My boys put together supplies to write a letter to Santa. e.g. They folded letterhead and put labels on envelopes.

3) My boys baked cookies and put special labels on packets of hot chocolate.

4) My boys made magic reindeer food. 

5) My boys assembled tree ornament craft kits. (See below.)

Note: If you are interested in making one of these ornaments, you can download a PDF version of the Santa ornament instructions here.

6) My boys sold complete kits for $10 and donated the profits to charity.

I'm super-proud of my boys and their hard work on this Christmas fundraiser, and I'm extremely grateful to all our friends and family that supported us this year. Merry Christmas!

♥ 
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

How My Boys Gave Back this Holiday Season (Our 7th Annual Christmas Fundraiser)

Each year, during the holidays, my boys raise money for charity. I have always thought it was important for my boys to "give back" during the holidays, and I am proud of their efforts to organize a "letter writing to Santa" fundraiser. They bake cookies, create craft kits, make reindeer food, and package it all up to sell. This year, they raised $340.00 for Cystic Fibrosis (a disease that their 5 year old cousin is living with). 

My boys baked cookies, put together craft kits, and packaged up reindeer food. They worked really hard, and sold a lot of kits. I think the kids that purchased them had fun too!

I just love the adorable tree ornament that the kids could make with their kits.

I think it is fantastic that my boys were able to do the work, and they were super-proud of the money they raised. It meant a lot to them, and giving back is an important part of our family's holiday celebrations.

How do you find a meaningful way for your kids to give back at Christmas?

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Simple Christmas Fundraiser (hosted by kids)

This is the 5th year that my boys have hosted a "Letter Writing to Santa" party/fundraiser. We host a party, charge people to come, and donate the money we earn to charity. It is a fantastic way for my boys to give back during the holiday season. This year they raised $222.75 for Cystic Fibrosis. I love the idea of kids hosting their own fundraiser, and today I am sharing the details of how we did it.

We promoted the event and charged everyone $10 to attend. We also had a little raffle for a gift basket. Every attendee received supplies to write a letter to Santa (paper, envelope, pencil and stickers), supplies to make a simple craft, a cookie, a juice box, and supplies to make a bag of magic reindeer food.

The boys made two batches of cookies. We made butter cut-out cookies and gingerbread cut-out cookies.

We also made a simple snowflake ornament from popsicle sticks and dollar store "jewel stickers". I used a glue gun (ahead of time) to glue the sticks together, and the guests used the jewels to decorate the ornaments.

Every guest also had an opportunity to make some magic reindeer food. You can find the recipe and FREE printable tags for magic reindeer food here.

Of course, we had Christmas music playing and balloons for the kids to play with, and a good time was had by all.

I'm really proud of my boys and all the hard work they put into their "Letter Writing to Santa" party/fundraiser. They prepared for the party, they greeted all the guests, and they helped me clean up. Isn't it wonderful when kids find a way to give back during the holiday season?

♥ 
Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Letter Writing to Santa Party

Every year, my boys host a "Letter Writing to Santa" party for charity.  They get everything ready, they charge people to come, and they give all the money they earn to Cystic Fibrosis.  This year, they had over 30 guests, and they raised $377.50.  It's an easy and inexpensive party theme that works great as a fundraiser, as a classroom party, or a simple gathering at home.  Here's how we did it....

1) We found a venue, and we made an invite/poster that included all the party details.

2)  We had a raffle for a small gift basket.

3)  We set up a cookie station with juice, water, and cookies.  We made our favorite ginger molasses and chocolate chip cookies.  {Click on the links to get the recipes.}

4)  We gave each guest supplies to write a letter to Santa.

5)  We gave each guest supplies to make a little craft. {You can find the tutorial for our simple gingerbread man ornament here.}

6)  We set up a reindeer food station so that all the guests could make reindeer food to take home.  {You can find all the printables you need to set up your own magic reindeer food station here.}

7)  Each guest received a Santa beard as a little gift that they could take home.  {You can download a free template for these Santa beards here.}

We had a lot of fun at our 4th annual "Writing a Letter to Santa" party, and I am super-proud of my little elves.

♥ 

Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

Writing a Letter to Santa Party/Fundraiser Tutorial

This year my boys held their 3rd Annual "Writing a Letter to Santa" party/fundraiser.  They raised $238 for Cystic Fibrosis (in honor of their baby cousin who has the disease).  It's one of my favorite Christmas traditions, and I am hoping that some of my readers may be inspired to throw a similar party with their children.  So, today I am sharing all the info you need to host your own "Writing a Letter to Santa" party/fundraiser.

First, you'll need to decide on all the details of your party.  (We made this little poster.)

Then, on the day of the party, put your little ones to work.  My boys worked really hard before, during and after the party, and they were extremely proud of their efforts. 

And, of course, you'll need to make some cookies.  We had three types of cookies and juice boxes for our guests.  You can download a cute sign for the cookie table here.

And every guest was able to make some reindeer food to take home.  We used oats, Cheerios, and red sugar sprinkles.  You can download the tags for the reindeer food here, and you can download a cute sign for the reindeer food table here.

The kids were also given paper and envelopes to write their letters, and the supplies they needed to make a simple craft.

Finally, as a parting gift, every child was given this cute Santa beard.  You can download the template here.

I would be delighted to have you use my downloads to put together your own party.  If you do, I'd love to hear all about it!

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Letter Writing to Santa Party/Fundraiser

Last weekend, the boys hosted their 2nd Annual "Letter Writing to Santa" party/fundraiser.  This year, they were able to donate $187.55 to a local children's hospital.  I am so proud of them! 

Want to throw a similar party with your little ones?  Here's what we did...

As guests arrived, they were given the supplies needed to write a letter to Santa and a fun paper Santa beard.

As the children were writing their letters, they were given some juice and a cookie baked with love by Mrs. Claus.  :-)

Then, each guest made a little craft and some magic reindeer food.

Isn't this a fun way to teach children about "giving back" during the holiday season?  I can't wait to do it again next year!

 

♥ 

Gina Bell (aka East Coast Mommy)

* You can find me on facebook here.

 

Letter Writing to Santa Party

As you may recall, my oldest son came up with the idea of hosting a "Letter Writing to Santa Party" fundraiser, as a way to help others this holiday season.  The party took place last Friday night, and it was a huge success.  (We raised $140.50 for the children's hospital.)  I am so grateful to all the "elves" that supported us through their attendance and donations.  THANK YOU!

My awesome six year old working the door.

Would you like to throw your own "Letter Writing to Santa Party"?  Here is a little peek at what we did:

While enjoying cookies and juice, the guests were given all the supplies they needed to write their letters to Santa. 

We also had fun "Santa beards" (on popsicle sticks) for the guests.  They were a big hit!  I was inspired by I Heart Naptime, but you can find a template for my version here.

After the letters were finished, each child was given a "kit" with all the supplies they needed to make a reindeer ornament for their tree.  (The kit included a candy cane, a circle of red craft foam for the nose, two googly eyes, one long piece of pipe cleaner, two shorter pieces of pipe cleaner, and a ribbon for hanging.)

Finally, each guest made a bag of reindeer food to take home.  You can find the template for the reindeer food tags here.  (We used Oats, Cheerios, and Magic Glitter... aka Red Sugar Sprinkles.)

Here are a few more pics of the party's handsome hosts.

My middle son testing out our photo booth.

My three boys... waiting for their guests to arrive.

Delivering their letters at the Santa Claus parade.

We had a great time, and the boys learned a lot about "giving back".  I am thinking that this is going to be a wonderful annual tradition for our family.  :-)



♥

Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)