The joyous holiday season will be upon us before we know it. For most of us, Christmas is a time to count our blessings and to enjoy our family, friends, and good fortune. Yet for some, Christmas is an empty time of year, lacking these joys, these blessings of good fortune. Our society has been unable to remedy or prevent poverty in our communities. Charity, on the other hand, has always offered us a means to alleviate the destructive effects of poverty and provide small blessings, bits of good fortune to those facing It. For over 80 years, the Niagara Falls Firefighters Christmas Toy Fund has worked diligently to channel donations from this community to alleviate, for those most vulnerable, the effects of poverty, for a while, each Holiday Season.

Each year, thanks to generous donors from throughout the area, the Firefighters Toy Fund delivers Christmas toys to approximately 1000 children. Each year, our Holiday Dinner Party provides a delicious meal and holiday themed entertainment for hundreds of residents of nursing homes and adult care facilities in our community. Each year, our activities ensure that winter clothing is provided to hundreds of children in need who would otherwise do without.

The firefighters and officers of the NFFD, their spouses and families, friends, neighbors, and civic leaders spend thousands of volunteer hours each year, planning, packaging, and delivering special Christmas gifts and cheer to the needy and elderly in our community.
However, none of this is possible without the generous support of the citizens and business owners of our area. The volunteer time, the goods, services and support we receive each year from the good people of Niagara Falls and surrounding communities are crucial to our efforts.

Please tune-in to our annual telethon on the OSC Channel-21 on December 3, 2011 between 10 am and 10 pm, and consider helping by phoning in a donation or by participating in our silent auction. Better yet, stop by NFHS and contribute in person. We will be holding a Chinese auction the day of the telethon, at the high school, of over one hundred items/baskets provided generously by local businesses. As always, donations sent directly to us (P.O. Box 271, Niagara Falls, NY. 14304) are greatly appreciated as well. Look to purchase our “firefighter and child” logos in local businesses throughout the month of November. This is an easy and fast way to help our cause while patronizing businesses that support charitable giving. Also look for and support the various fundraisers to benefit the Toy Fund and other charities that will be hosted by local organizations during the holidays.

Thank You,
John Castellani
2011 Toy Fund Chairman