Good Karma Holiday Program

Key dates for 2024:

Non-perishable food/ grocery gift card drop-off:
November 1 – December 20

New toy donation drop-off:
November 1 – December 10

Give Joy This Holiday Season

The holidays are approaching! At A Wider Circle, we understand that this time of year can be challenging for families who struggle to find the money and resources to celebrate.

We are counting on the generosity of our supporters to make a significant impact this November and December. With your help, we aim to distribute thousands of children’s toys, keep a robust pantry of shelf-stable foods, and create multiple dignified shopping experiences for families in need.

We have several ways you can help your neighbors this holiday season. Read through the options below, and download this flyer to pass out to your coworkers, friends, neighbors, and loved ones.

Stock the Food Pantries!

What we are doing:

Instead of a one-time Thanksgiving Food Basket, we will stock our pantries in Silver Spring and Washington, DC, with shelf-stable food items and distribute $50 Safeway and Giant gift cards throughout the holiday season.

How you can help:

Drop off $50 grocery gift cards (preferences for Giant and Safeway) and unexpired dry or canned items to the Silver Spring address below anytime between November 1 and December 20; the earlier, the better.

Your generous donations will ensure we can give out an abundance of resources to the families we serve more than at a single holiday, but throughout winter.

Sponsor Children and Families

Who you are helping:

Your sponsorship will support three groups in 2024. First, families who live in the Washington Highlands community or participate in programming at our Ward 8 Hub in the same neighborhood. Second, children of parents with scheduled furniture or professional clothing appointments during December at our Center in Silver Spring. And third, children in public housing across DC, who participate in the DC Housing Authority’s Gift of Love Program. Last year through each of these programs we reached a total of 924 children and 120 families with thousands of gifts and gift cards. Will you help us make the holidays as bright again this year?

New this year:

In addition to our Winter Wonderland in Silver Spring, we will host a second Winter Wonderland near our Ward 8 Hub in Washington, DC, for a few days in mid-December. This change from a one-to-one sponsor delivery model was based on neighbor feedback. We invite existing and new sponsors to help fill a magical space for about 130 families to browse. These families are pre-registering throughout early November and identifying gift preferences. We are continuously updating our anonymized wishlist from which sponsors like you can shop. Then when families come through the Winter Wonderland, our hope is that each child we be able to leave with two toys and an educational item; that each teen and adult will leave with a retail gift card; and that each household will get a grocery gift card.

How you can help:

As a potential sponsor, we need your help with gift cards and new gifts. Here are some specific ways to lend a hand:

You can visit our Amazon Wishlist or Walmart Wishlist to view, purchase, and ship to our center in Silver Spring, those gems that a tiny tot will soon cherish. New items are being added weekly. Please complete your shopping so items arrive by December 10.
Drop off new unwrapped toys, books, educational games, and retail store gift cards ($25-50) or ship them to us at below A Wider Circle Holiday Program, 9159 Brookville Road, Silver Spring MD, 20190 to arrive between November 1 and December 10
Load a $25 or greater grocery gift card for families we work closely to ensure there’s food on their tables at the holidays. Families prefer Giant, Safeway, and Aldi. Our hope is to be able to give out $25 per household member (so a family of four would get $100 worth of cards). You can mail or drop off these gift cards by December 10.

Please send questions to holiday@awidercircle.org, or call 202-891-7894.

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Karma Kenny, a role model for us all.
In 2020, we renamed our Holiday Program to the Good Karma Holiday Program in honor of our long-time supporter and dear friend Karma Kenny, who passed earlier that year.

Karma was a consummate gift giver whose spirit of generosity and infectious enthusiasm for sharing her time and treasure with us, and the Holiday Program, touched all who encountered her. She truly enjoyed the act of giving and is a role model for us all. While she will be missed, her spirit lives on.

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