WINDSOR TERRACE — The Tablet’s annual Bright Christmas Campaign has officially launched early this year due to the ongoing pandemic.

“The main goal of the campaign for over half a century has been the same — to ensure that no child goes without a gift this Christmas,” Editor Jorge Domínguez said. “But this time the campaign has a special urgency. Many families have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Brooklyn and Queens. We need to help them celebrate Christmas.”

Last year, The Tablet raised more than $106,000 for diocesan-and parish-based groups and religious education programs that requested help.

Over the last nine years, the campaign has received and distributed more than $1 million, which has been used to purchase Christmas presents, food, educational materials, and other basic necessities.

Bright Christmas began under the leadership of Deacon Don Zirkle, former editor of The Tablet, in the 1960s, when there was a booming movement to help inner-city children. At that time, the fund consisted of a few thousand dollars, which were distributed throughout parishes in the Diocese of Brooklyn so that children could partake in Christmas celebrations — regardless of whether their families could afford one.

If you’d like to donate to the fund via PayPal or credit card, you can visit thetablet.org and click the Bright Christmas icon. Or you can write a check to “The Tablet’s Bright Christmas” and mail it to:

The Tablet
1712 10th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215