Matthew Schiller knows all too well the kind of difference Bright Christmas makes in people’s lives. Having worked as The Tablet’s business manager from 1973 to 1993, he was directly involved with the campaign and learned firsthand how the funds raised would help put a toy in a child’s hands and a smile on their face.
Msgr. Richard Ahlemeyer, pastor at St. Camillus-St. Virgilius Parish, knows very well the value of Bright Christmas.
Maria Garces is an assistant preschool teacher for a community based organization that services low-income families who also volunteers as a religious education coordinator at Our Lady of Solace Church in Coney Island. Seeking to solicit funds to help buy toys for the 142 Catholic Sunday school students in the parish, she reached out to The Tablet.
Bay Ridge-born and raised William McKenna knows very well what The Tablet’s Bright Christmas campaign can do. Even after moving first to New Jersey and then retiring to Saugerties, New York, the former president, chairman and CEO of Ridgewood Savings Bank has been a generous donor to Bright Christmas for over 40 years.
For Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Academy Principal Joseph Venticinque, Christmas is all about kids helping kids. That’s why every year he encourages students to raise money to help those who are lacking presents at Christmas time. And there’s even more encouragement: The Tablet’s Bright Christmas fund helps supplement the money the students raise on their own.
Once again, it was a memorable Bright Christmas campaign! At the end of a challenging, and quite frankly, devastating year, The Tablet’s readers showed that despite the pandemic and an economic crisis, they remain truly generous. For that, we say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
One of the best feelings ever, which many older students can attest to, is when it’s finally the end of the semester. After spending a semester studying and working hard to excel in academics and extracurriculars, they look forward to unwinding and celebrating with their classmates.
There’s nothing like seeing children’s eyes open wide when they spot wrapped gifts underneath a decorated Christmas tree. Their sprint to the tree reminds one of previous Christmas Day mornings when Santa did get your letter and brought you everything on your list. But being with family while opening up those gifts is really what it’s all about, especially at Hour Children.
Tomorrow will be a year to the day when Father Jorge Ortiz-Garay sent me a letter asking for a grant from the Bright Christmas Campaign.
When a 16-year-old boy asked for Subway Series tickets last year, the Make a Difference Christmas Effort had no idea what they would mean to a family of four.
