Serving our Homeless Children

Each homeless shelter or facility is contacted repeatedly to provide the name, age, gender, underwear size, clothing size, and shoe size of every single homeless child, so that the gift packages can be personalized for each child. It takes the planning committee about seven to eight months to prepare adequately for this event. Preparation includes:

1. Working closely with shelters and facilities,
2. Seeking sponsorship and donations from local organizations and businesses (whether monetary or in-kind) through advertisements, letters and word-of-mouth,
3. Locating a packing facility,
4. Shopping for the items,
5. Storing the goods in a central location,
6. Preparing labels with the children’s names and relevant information,
7. Packing the personalized bags,
8. Transporting supplies to the facility, and
9. Arranging for entertainment and food for the event day.

The children only receive new items. Santa(s) and his helpers are on site to distribute the gifts to the children. On the event day, at the very end, families can also obtain additional items for the children in a specified grab bag area.

On the event day, in addition to Kiwanians and other volunteers from the community and sponsors, Broward County Commissioners, as well as elected officials from other Cities, are in attendance to show that they care about these families.

The success of this project is living proof that together we can make a difference in the lives of those in need.

Christmas in July Committee

The event is planned by the Christmas in July ("CIJ") committee, which is typically made up of about 30 to 40 people. The CIJ Committee is divided into various subcommittees, which are lead by a chair and co-chair. The subcommittees are:

1. Advertising
2. BB&T Center Date & Coordination
3. Clean-up
4. Elected Officials Liaison
5. Entertainment
6. Food & Drinks
7. Gift Distribution
8. Grab Bag/CIJ Store
9. Key Club Coordination/Aktion Club/ Circle K Coordination
10. Photographer
11. Security
12. Shelter Coordination/Registration
13. Sorting & Packing Facility Coordination
14. Sorting & Packing Facility Donation
15. Sorting & Packing Facility Equipment
16. Sponsorship
17. Supplies
18. Transportation
19. Volunteers
20. Website