This past Christmas season, The Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia asked residents across the Delaware Valley to not to forget our neighbors in need.

From children’s toys to new winter coats; from holiday meals to special recipes; from cold, hard cash to cyber giving; generous donors allowed The Salvation Army to provide a Merry Christmas for thousands of our less fortunate neighbors.

“Many people depend on The Salvation Army to help them, especially during this time of year, “ said Major Robert W. Dixon, director of operations for The Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia. “Each day parents must make wrenching decisions between paying bills and putting food on the table. The luxury of Christmas gifts is not an option.”

For the second year in a row, Operation Warm partnered with The Salvation Army to ensure children have a new winter coat. More than 11,000 coats were donated for distribution to children in need by Salvation Army corps community centers.

Thanks to Acme Markets, Please Call Again, The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College, and compassionate volunteers, more than 700 homeless individuals and families feasted on a special home cooked holiday meal.     

Hundreds of our world famous red kettles were positioned on street corners and at partner locations like K-Mart, Macy’s, Pathmark, SuperFresh, and Walmart, to name a few.

Thanks to the generosity of media partners B101, CBS 3, CW Philly, the CBS Radio family of stations, NBC 10, and The Philadelphia Business Journal; businesses like Ashley Furniture Home Store, Boscov’s, Famous Dave’s, Hand and Stone Massage and Facial Spa, JCPenney, Mercedes-Benz, Pep Boys, PwC, Starbuck’s, VWR International, Wells Fargo, and many more; and very caring individuals, children awoke overjoyed when they found gifts with their names on them underneath the tree.

While helping to feed families in need, our inaugural Chefs for Sharing Campaign provided donors with special soup recipes from celebrated Philadelphia chefs, Bistrot La Minette’s Peter Woolsey, City Tavern’s Walter Staib, FORK’s Terence Feury, POD ‘s Hugh Moran, Supper‘s Mitch Prensky, and White Dog Café’s Eric Yost.

Herr Foods, PECO, and UnitedHealthcare led the way as our third annual CBS 3 / CW Philly Joy of Sharing Phone Bank presented by Herr’s raised $113,900. All donations raised during our annual Christmas campaign help fund food, clothing and toy assistance to families during the holidays and throughout the year.

“Seeing the look of gratitude on a parent’s face when they know they will be able to provide a Merry Christmas to their children is hard to put into words,” added Dixon.

While we are unable to list all of our Christmas partners here, please know we sincerely appreciate all your efforts, and there is absolutely no way we could provide for those in need without your continued, compassionate support. Thank you and God bless you, every one.

To see some of the action, visit our photo or video galleries.