St. Catherine’s Center for Children - Hope for the Holidays
The holidays bring joy, generosity, and hope. At St. Catherine’s Center for Children, your kindness helps ensure that children, families, and adults facing difficult circumstances feel remembered, valued, and cared for.
Each year, St. Catherine’s Center for Children brings hope, stability, and life-changing support to more than 3,000 children, families, and adults across 37 counties through our residential and foster care services, special education school, homeless and housing programs, and comprehensive community-based services.
Your generosity can make a difference for people such as:
- Seven-year-old Emma, who recently entered foster care with only a few personal belongings. Receiving a warm coat, new pajamas, and a special gift chosen just for her can provide comfort during an uncertain time.
- Fourteen-year-old Marcus, who lives in one of our residential programs. A new basketball and headphones can remind him that people in his community believe in him and want him to experience the joy of the holidays.
- Danielle, a mother of three living in our homeless shelter while working to find permanent housing. Help with gifts and a holiday meal allows her children—ages 4, 9, and 12—to enjoy the season without the family’s current hardships taking center stage.
- Sixteen-year-old Olivia, who has spent much of her life moving between foster homes. A gift selected especially for her can offer something equally important: the knowledge that she has not been forgotten.
Names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of those we serve.
If you have already signed up to help, thank you. Your generosity means more than we can express. If you have not yet participated, please consider helping one of the children, families, or adults we will serve this year.
The need is even greater this year, and there are many ways to become involved. Information about each opportunity is attached:
✨ Adopt a Child or Family – Provide gifts, clothing, and essential items to make the holidays brighter. Donations should be ready by December 6.
✨ Donate a Holiday Meal – Provide everything needed for a family celebration, from the turkey to dessert.
✨ Join Our Gift-Wrapping Morning – Help us wrap gifts on Thursday, December 17, from 9:00 a.m. to noon, at 40 North Main Avenue in Albany. The snow date is Friday, December 18.
✨ Give Through Our Holiday Gift Catalog – Make a monetary donation that supports children, families, and adults during the holidays and throughout the year.
✨ Choose a Tag from a Holiday Tree – Select a gift tag from one of our trees at Crossgates Mall, Colonie Center, or Aviation Mall—or host a giving tree at your workplace.
✨ Host a Children’s Holiday Party – Sponsor a joyful holiday celebration for children in our care.
To sign up, visit the St. Catherine’s Center for Children website and follow these steps:
Get Involved → Donation → Hope for the Holidays → Fill Out Form
Everything you have done for St. Catherine’s in the past is greatly appreciated. Whether you adopt a family, purchase a gift, donate a meal, volunteer your time, or make a financial contribution, you are bringing comfort, dignity, and hope to someone who truly needs it.
If you have any questions, please contact:
Dori O’Neal: 518-641-0454
Michele Puleo O’Hare: 518-817-6804
If we are unable to answer, please leave a message, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Thank you for standing beside the children, families, and adults we serve. Together, we can make this holiday season brighter and remind more than 3,000 people that their community cares about them.