The holidays are approaching fast and while many of us have family to be with and a safe & warm place to call home unfortunately there are people who are less fortunate. Philadelphia has 5,700+ individuals living on the streets, in cars, in abandon buildings, and in train/bus stations, in addition to 12,000+ people in shelters. Along with Christmas, my family and I now look forward to the weekends in December because we are doing our 6th Annual Holiday Care Bags For The Homeless!!

In December 2015, the first year that we started this drive, my family and I put some money together and were able to make 50 Holiday Care Bags for the Homeless in Philadelphia!! Along with the care bags, the Wawa Transportation Department donated coupons for FREE hoagies, breakfast sandwiches, donuts and hot & cold beverages from Wawa, which they now donate 500+ Coupons EVERY YEAR!! 

After our first year, we knew we wanted this to be a tradition every December!!

The following year, we decided it would be a great idea to start a fundraising page to see how big this could grow and the support we received was amazing! December 2016 we had an incredible amount of support & donations and were able to triple the first year making 150 bags!! Along with the care bags, we were also able to give out Philly cheesesteaks, thanks to Philips Steaks, an awesome family owned business in South West Philadelphia that now donates 100+ cheesesteaks EVERY YEAR!!

In December 2017 & 2018, we raised enough to be able to make 200 bags both years and in addition to giving them out around Philadelphia we will also donated bags to Veterans in need & to a local non-profit “City Team” that helps the homeless in Chester, PA..
 
Last year for our FIFTH Straight Year, we raised enough to be able to make 200 bags, which was so close to our goal of 250 Bags!! We are now approaching our 6th YEAR and are hoping to be able to make 250 THIS DECEMBER!! Please share this cause to spread the word & help us reach our goal!! We are willing to make and give out as many bags as we are able to afford to put together!!


This is where all of you amazing people come in...


Each decorative gift bag costs roughly $15 to make and will include a warm, fuzzy blanket, a pair of warm boot socks, a knit hat, gloves, a scarf, a toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, deodorant, lotion, chapstick, lots of snacks such as granola bars, crackers, cookies, fruit snacks & chips, a Christmas card with 5 coupons for FREE items from Wawa & a nice, hot Cheesesteak!!  

So for $15 you can keep someone warm and bring a little cheer to their holiday season. 

We will personally be handing them out throughout the month of December all around Philadelphia and Delaware County. No donation is too small and every dollar is greatly appreciated and will help the less fortunate. If you cannot donate, sharing this fundraiser means just as much!! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your donations & sharing our cause to help us spread the word.


**ALL proceeds will go directly to the Holiday Care Bags for the Homeless in Philadelphia.** 


Merry Christmas and God Bless,
The Phelps Family



Share and re-post to help us spread the word please!!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the story from how we started Holiday Care Bags For The Homeless!


In December 2015, my family and I had a great idea to make Holiday Care Bags for the Homeless. Everyone immediately got on board and put some money together, including extending family. We went to Dollar Store and bought things we thought someone might need. In the colorful holiday bags we put a winter hat, pair of gloves, a toothbrush, toothpaste, a bottle of water, cookies, candy, other small snacks and a handwritten note wishing them a Merry Christmas. The day came to take the bags to Center City and hand them out, there were about 8 of us and no one really knew what to expect. We walked around for a little while until we saw a man lying in an old church doorway, my Dad walked up to him, handed him a bag and said "Merry Christmas", the man looked up at him, took the bag and instantly smiled and replied "Thank you! God bless you." We continued to walk around the city and hand out bags but were still unsure if it was doing anything. Does it really help anyone? Do the people really care?  Then there were the last two bags...  We saw a man and woman coming down the sidewalk and he was literally holding her up. Thinking that they had been drinking we were a little scared, but we walked up to the man and said "Merry Christmas" and handed him a bag. We all walk away but stopped at the corner to look back and see the couple looking in the bag and then the man hugged the woman with tears rolling down his face. He then wipes his eyes and takes her arm, we could see now that she could hardly walk because something was wrong with her legs. My parents have tears in their eyes, we all have tears in our eyes, I then run back to woman hand her the last bag and said "here's one for you too." We all watch the couple from afar hug and cry and then we all realize how much these bags can really mean to someone. We knew then at that moment that this is something we would do every year and we are now on our 6TH YEAR!!