Holiday with a Hero hosts fundraisers leading up to annual Carson City shopping spree
Submitted by Kelsey Penrose on Wed, 11/30/2022 - 12:30pm
Event Date:
December 2, 2022 - 4:30pm
Holiday with a Hero has been serving Carson City students for two decades, pairing local heroes (responders from numerous professions) and students together in order to provide them with a shopping spree in time for the holidays.
Holiday with a Hero is on its 18th year of shopping, and this year, their goal is to serve 230 students.
In order to fund this annual shopping spree, Holiday with a Hero has hosted a holiday crawl in addition to receiving numerous donations from the community.
This year, however, instead of a crawl, Holiday with a Hero will host two fundraising events.
The first will take place at the Silver and Snowflake tree lighting ceremony this Friday in downtown Carson City, during which they will be selling hot cocoa and adult hot beverages in McFadden Plaza from 4:30 to 8 p.m.
The second fundraiser will be the Feast with a Hero event, hosted by Bodines Casino on Dec. 10 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. During this fundraiser, uniformed responders from a number of a local agencies will be helping to serve patrons at the Bodines restaurant. Bodines will be donating the day’s proceeds to Holiday with a Hero. The Carson City Sheriff’s Office and Carson City Fire Department will also be on scene with patrol units, fire trucks and more for families to check out.
“Holiday with a Hero depends solely on the donations from the community and the various fundraising events we have done over the years to support our shopping day,” Jessica Boggan of Holiday with a Hero said. “We take pride in the reputation we have built, and the community is familiar with our cause.”
Some organizations and individuals will contact Holiday with a Hero to donate as their yearly charity contribution, said Boggan.
“This has made it somewhat easier over the years; however, our numbers of those in need continue to grow,” Boggan continued. “With that, we still desperately depend on events such as the Feast with a Hero to have enough funds to support each and every one of the kids that need us. Without the communities support and attendance at our fundraisers, we wouldn’t be able to continue.”
Boggan has participated in the event for 16 years, and knows she is making a difference in the lives of local children.
“Two years ago, we had a 7 year old write us a thank you letter,” Boggan said. “In the letter, he mentioned his family lives in their car and if it wasn’t for our event they wouldn’t have Christmas at all. I, myself, forget how fortunate my family is. No fault of their own, these kids are not as fortunate. They need us.”
Over the course of the pandemic, Holiday with a Hero has had to overcome many challenges in order to continue to provide for local children during the holiday season, and though many restrictions have been lifted, the repercussions can still be felt today.
“We’ve had to overcome a lot of challenges this year,” Organizer Meliah Gonzales said. “We’re so glad we’ll be able to move forward with the event.”
The biggest challenge to the event this year is the fact that there aren’t enough bus drivers and buses that the school district can spare due to staffing issues.
However, the school district was able to come up with a solution, and students will be staggered in groups for the holiday shopping spree instead of coming all at one time.
“A lot of the challenges are left over from the pandemic,” Gonzales said. “Hopefully by next year we can get back to normal.”
Over the previous 17 shopping events, Holiday with a Hero has been able to provide nearly $325,000 in services to local children.
In addition the shopping spree, Holiday with a Hero has also been able to help children on their way to higher education.
“We are grateful our program is also growing with our scholarship,” Boggan said. “Three students this year, all whom had been a participant in a past HWAH shopping event, are now going off to college with a little bit of financial assistance through our program. Our impact is becoming greater in several aspects and we hope to keep creating Christmas magic for the children in Carson City now, and towards their future down the road.”
If you have any questions about Holiday with a Hero, you can contact Gonzales at MGonzales@carson.org
For more information about Holiday with a Hero, (and to donate!) you can visit holidaywithahero.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/holidaywithahero
