Letter to the Editor: Gift Cards for Christmas

[Correction: The correct address for Needham Community Council is 570 Highland Avenue. This has been corrected below. 3:10 p.m., Nov. 28] 

Dear Editor,  

Each holiday season The Needham Community Council distributes gifts to families in town who are facing economic challenges.  In 2011, 192 families-- including 76 children under the age of 13, and 49 teens--were recipients of these gifts. Generous Needham residents donate gifts and funds to support this project. 

However, gift items donated are not always designed for teenagers.  As parents, we are especially sensitive to the needs and desires of young people around the holidays.  There are many families in Needham with limited financial resources to provide their teenagers with gifts.  It is especially difficult for these teens to observe the lavish gifts received by their peers at school. 

We would like to encourage you to make a donation to help the Council purchase gift certificates to local clothing or music stores for this group of teenagers. Please send a check payable to: Needham Community Council and mail it to 570 Highland Avenue. Your donation will enable this group of teens to use the gift certificates to select an item that suits them personally, a luxury that many Needham teens take for granted.  It is important that you write "teen holiday gift" in the memo line and it would be greatly appreciated if checks could be submitted by December 12. 

Thank you in advance for joining us in making the holiday a special time for all Needham teenagers. 

Needham Community Council Executive Direction, Sandra Robinson describes this wonderful holiday outreach program "…it is a very powerful day for me. I get to directly experience the impact of our programs and see firsthand how the support from the entire community makes a difference in people’s lives. Not a year has gone by without a parent coming into my office with tears in their eyes, telling me that ‘they do not know what they would have done this year if we were not there.’ This is when it is so clear to me that our success is due to the generosity of the entire Needham community.”

Please join us in helping the Needham Community Council make this holiday season special for all of Needham’s teens.

Jeanie Martin, 139 Plymouth Road, Needham, 02492, 781-449-1599, jeaniec.martin@gmail.com

Donna Vello, 141 Hawthorn Avenue, Needham, 02492, 781-449-3617, VELBDBM@aol.com