2016 Richmond Christmas Mother shared holiday cheer through Salvation Army, FeedMore and 57 community grants – Richmond Times-Dispatch: Richmond Christmas Mother Fund Coverage From The Richmond Times-Dispatch 2016 Richmond Christmas Mother shared holiday cheer through Salvation Army, FeedMore and 57 community grants
Richmond Christmas Mother Becky Massey passed out bags of sweet potatoes and other vegetables Thursday as she helped FeedMore distribute holiday meal fixings.
Richmond Christmas Mother Becky Massey helped serve snacks Thursday to volunteers in the lobby of the VCU Massey Cancer Centeras Dalton Oncology Clinic in Richmond. Silvestri and Richmond Christmas Mother Becky Massey are shown at the Christmas Center of The Salvation Army Central Virginia in Richmond on Monday, December 12, 2016.
Richmond Christmas Mother Becky Massey reacted after receiving a donation Tuesday from George Martin (left), managing partner of McGuireWoodsa Richmond office, on behalf of the firmas employees.
Richmond Christmas Mother Becky Massey and her family attend Dominion Christmas Parade in Richmond on Saturday, December 3, 2016.
The Richmond Christmas Mother Fund provides gifts, food and goodwill to those in need.
The Richmond Christmas Mother Fund received nearly $245,000 in contributions during the 2016 campaign to provide Christmas gifts, food and cheer around the Richmond region.
The funding supports a program that gave $150,000 to the Salvation Army Central Virginia for its Christmas gift distribution, $25,000 to FeedMore for a special Mobile Pantry distribution of Christmas dinner ingredients and $80,000 in grants for Christmas-related activities at 57 local organizations.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch sponsors the Richmond Christmas Mother program and takes care of all of the administrative costs, which this year included the hiring of a temporary part-time employee. The Christmas Mother effort goes back to 1935, evolving out of The Richmond News Leaderas Empty Stocking Fund and the Richmond Times-Dispatchas Good Fellow Club.
aIt has just simply done an awful lot of good for those that need it the most,a said Becky Massey, who was chief cheerleader and fundraiser as the 2016 Richmond Christmas Mother.
aTo see how supportive the community has been, to visibly see the joy of childrenas faces at the Legendary Santa dinner, to see the thousands of families that received gifts and clothing from the Salvation Army a totally made possible by the Richmond Christmas Mother Fund a itas totally redeeming to be a part of it and to see the needs that are met by this program,a she said.
aThe Richmond Christmas Mother program is so appreciative of the fundraising efforts of Becky Massey, who was outstanding as the 2016 Christmas Mother,a Silvestri said.
aOne of the Richmond Christmas Mother boardas goals in recent years has been to broaden the regional impact of the program while maintaining our traditional focus on the city of Richmond.
aIt so uplifted my holiday in knowing how much our Richmond region gives back during this holiday season.
Ukropas Homestyle Foods dedicated 5,000 Christmas tree coffee cakes to the Christmas Mother program, donating 50 cents from each of them to the fund for a first-time total of $2,500. Jayne Ukrop is a former Richmond Christmas Mother.
The Salvation Army uses its Richmond Christmas Mother grant to make it possible to have a Christmas Distribution Center and to supplement gifts from Angel Tree and other Christmas programs.
More than 1,800 Salvation Army volunteers worked 9,000 hours to help with Christmas assistance registration, Christmas gift distribution, Angel Tree locations and Angel Tree gift pick-ups, said Aimee Wester, communications manager.
The Chesterfield-Colonial Heights Christmas Mother program collected $202,122.88 and served 1,183 families with 3,000 children.
In Hanover, the Christmas Mother program raised $96,803 to help 658 families with 1,595 children.
The following 57 nonprofit organizations received a total of $80,000 in grants from The Richmond Christmas Mother Fund.
Chesterfield-Colonial Heights Christmas Mother, $2,000 a Food gift cards for Christmas dinner
Christmas Mother Association, $2,000 a Holiday hams for Goochland families in need
Richmond Christmas Mother Fund coverage from the Richmond Times-Dispatch,
The Richmond Christmas Mother Fund began in 1935 with the mission to help bring Christmas to underprivileged families in Richmond, VA. Donations to the Christmas Mother Fund can be mailed to 300 E. Franklin St., Richmond, VA 23219, Attn: Christmas Mother. Checks should be made out to Richmond Christmas Mother.
