Changes to our 2024 Christmas of HOPE Program
In an effort to streamline our application process, we will be moving to an online application. We will be using a google form. This form will be finalized and made available on Facebook and our Website on September 1, 2024.
New for 2024: All applicants will need to upload a copy of their 2023 1040 tax form.
All applications will need to be submitted by October 15th to be considered for our program. Please save the dates in your calendar.
If you have questions, please contact us at hopefundchristmas@gmail.com.
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Christmas of HOPE would like to thank everyone who donated their time, talents and treasures to Christmas of HOPE 2023! Our many wonderful sponsors and volunteers were very busy elves and we would have been lost without them. We would also like to recognize and thank Trinity UCC Church in Centre Hall and Grace United Methodist Church for kindly donating space for us to work out of this year, the Penn State Alumni Association for donating hats and gloves, St. Johns Union UCC Church for all the lovely quilts and blankets, Dollar General in Centre Hall for donating additional toys, socks and underwear, The Lady Rams Basketball team who helped us assemble our gift bags, and to St. Lukes Lutheran Church for donating food cards to every family in our program to help purchase items for their Christmas meal! We are so blessed to have each and every one of you on our team and because of you, we were able to provide gifts and joy to 70 Penns Valley children in need!
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APPLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR CHRISTMAS 2023 BEING ACCEPTED UNTIL OCTOBER 24, 2023
Hello Penns Valley Community. Christmas of HOPE is now accepting applications for our 2023 Christmas program. If you live in the Penns Valley Area School District and need help providing Christmas for your children this year (infants through seniors in high school only), please complete our application form and return it to Christmas of HOPE, P. O. Box 427, Centre Hall, PA 16828 or scan and email your signed and completed form to hopefundchristmas@gmail.com no later than October 24, 2023. (NO PHOTOGRAPHS OF YOUR APPLICATION FROM YOUR CELL PHONE WILL BE ACCEPTED DUE TO LEGIBILITY ISSUES)
If you or your children have moved out of the Penns Valley Area School District, we are sorry but you are no longer eligible to be in our program.
New this year: Applications will no longer be mailed.
New and returning applicants can print off an application form from our website or pick one up at one of our locations below:
Grace United Methodist Church
127 S. Pennsylvania Avenue
Centre Hall, PA 16828
8:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday
Old Gregg School (On table in lobby)
106 School Street
Spring Mills, PA 16875
7:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Penns Valley Youth Center
106 School Street
Spring Mills, PA 16875
2:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Monday
2:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday
2:30 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Friday
All application forms must be completed and postmarked by October 24, 2023 to participate in our program. Please note that proof of residency must be included in your application to be considered for our program. Examples of proof of residency are utility bills, pay stubs, or lease agreements, all must have your name and address noted. Due to our limited number of volunteers, late applications will not be accepted!
We can assure you that Christmas of HOPE will keep all information provided on the application form strictly confidential! If your application is approved, we look forward to serving you and your family to make your Christmas a blessed one! If you have any questions, please contact us at hopefundchristmas@gmail.com.
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We would like to thank everyone who donated their time, talents and treasures to Christmas of HOPE 2022! Our many wonderful sponsors and volunteers were very busy elves and we would have been lost without them. We would also like to recognize and thank The Old Gregg School Community Center for kindly donating space for us to work in this year and to all the lovely quilt and blanket makers for donating such beautiful warmth to our children in need!
Thanks to the generosity of all of you, we were able to provide gifts for 95 Penns Valley children.
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Christmas of HOPE is an off-shoot of the charity the HOPE Fund of Penns Valley. The HOPE Fund was started because we saw a great need in our community to help residents faced with medical or personal disasters.
At Christmas time, we wanted to be able to help the families assisted by the HOPE Fund even more by providing Christmas for their children. Because the HOPE Fund is funded completely through donations, and because those donations are designated for families in need facing dire health situations or other tragedies, there needed to be a very definite separation between the HOPE Fund and Christmas of HOPE. Therefore, Christmas of HOPE is recognized as its own entity.
Christmas of HOPE implemented a new process in October of 2019 and is no longer taking referrals from guidance counselors at our local schools. We are, however, accepting applications from families in the Penns Valley Area School District who are in need of assistance in providing Christmas to their children and will be happy to help you! If you are struggling financially and need our assistance, please click here for instructions 2021 coming soon! Businesses and community members have generously stepped forward to sponsor children by donating money, gifts, and their time to provide Christmas for local children. In 2020, we served over 70 children of limited means through Christmas of HOPE.
This program has grown tremendously since its inception. This is our eleventh year now and it is only been possible because of the support of the entire community!!
These certainly have been unprecedented times lately and many things have changed due to COVID 19! Christmas of HOPE wants to keep our sponsors, volunteers and participating families safe this Christmas season and because of this we have decided to change our process somewhat by limiting personal contact and practicing social distancing. We do anticipate more families needing help this year, however, and would greatly appreciate your support in helping us make this Christmas special for those in need!
All children that we serve are residents of the Penns Valley Area School District. We are so blessed to be part of this community and to have so many generous people, businesses and churches help support this cause. If you would like to consider sponsoring a child this year for Christmas or would like more information, you can email hopefundchristmas@gmail.com. If you would like to make a monetary donation, checks can be made out to Christmas of HOPE and mailed to The HOPE Fund of Penns Valley, PO Box 427, Centre Hall, PA 16828.
Thank you for helping to brighten Christmas for our Penns Valley youth!