Giftmart Awarded $13,400 from Naperville’s 100 Women Who Care

NAPERVILLE, Ill. - May 5, 2015 - PRLog -- On Wednesday, April 29, Giftmart received a $13,400 contribution from Naperville’s 100 Women Who Care.  The presentation was made at Bardwell Elementary School, one of 5 elementary schools in East Aurora School District #131 that benefit from Giftmart.

The money will be used to fund the Giftmart program. For more than a decade, Giftmart has provided the gift of dignity by collecting more than 90,000 toys and selling them at a cost of $2 per toy to parents who would not otherwise have been able to purchase presents during the holiday season.  Giftmart also paves the way for these communities to provide the gift of education to their children by donating the proceeds back to their schools, resulting in the purchase of much needed library books, computers, musical instruments and other supplies.  Giftmarts are held at five District #131 elementary schools, benefiting the families of those five schools and three others in Joliet.

Toy and monetary donations are critical to the success of the Giftmart program; at least 15,000 gifts are needed this year to meet the needs of the families being served.

“The money so kindly donated by 100 Women Who Care will make a huge impact on this year’s Giftmart,” says Giftmart Director Amy Plummer.  “We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of these community leaders.  Their donation is restoring dignity, improving education, changing lives.”

Donations of new, unwrapped toys for elementary aged children are accepted each year, roughly between mid-November and mid-December, at Community Christian Church’s Naperville Yellow Box location and in collections boxes at more than 160 local businesses and organizations throughout the area.  Monetary donations can be made online at www.communitychristian.org/giftmart throughout the year.

When parents come to Giftmart, they are greeted and given live entertainment, coffee, doughnuts and hot chocolate while they wait. They are oriented on the Giftmart process in both English and Spanish. Children enjoy a program while their parents shop. After parents have finished shopping, free gift-wrapping is available before they are reunited with their children.

Community 4:12, a ministry of Community Christian Church, created Giftmart in 2003.  Since then, the event has multiplied in the Chicago suburbs and has brought many additional churches into the fold of reproducing. For more information, email info@communitygiftmart.org or call Giftmart Director Amy Plummer at 954-303-1341.