Christmas in the City | Community Caring for Community
Posted on Dec. 19, 2022 / Events / Subscribe 0
AUTHOR: Lisa Madigan Contact
Whatever the season, poverty and homelessness are challenging. Cities big and small around the country have seen a surge in homelessness due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At Christmas in the City (CITC), their mission is simple: that all children deserve a gift of their choice for Christmas.
This is what inspired Jake Kennedy and his wife, Sparky, to launch CITC in 1989, when 165 mothers and children from Boston homeless shelters were guests at a party at Boston City Hall, complete with festive decorations, games, a holiday meal and a gift for each child that the child had asked Santa to deliver.
More than thirty years later, and the party is going strong. Now hosted at the convention center, the event has grown to 6,000 people from shelters all around Eastern Massachusetts. The 2019 party was the last for Jake Kennedy, who died from ALS in October 2020. The pandemic also dealt a blow to CITC, forcing the big party to be cancelled for the last three years.
However, the all-volunteer force for good has survived the loss of its co-founder and a pandemic that curtailed how many homeless children it could serve. While COVID made CITC’s reach more modest, it never went away. This year, in lieu of the big party, they will again be hosting CITC: Delivered, bringing, toys, food, and warm clothes to 38 homeless shelters in and around Boston, as well as Jake’s Toy Mania.
This is where the Boston Outreach Committee joins the story! On Saturday, December 10, six Outreach Committee members volunteered to unpack and sort a massive donation from ‘47 Brand clothing. These items will be included in the deliveries going to nearby shelters as well as be added to the inventory available for registered families to “shop” and bring some holiday cheer home for their children.
CITC plans on bringing back the big party next year. Jake and Sparky’s legacy will live on through the Kennedy family and the generosity of its supporters. And for the volunteers spending time sorting donations on Saturday, we experienced the spirit of the season that harkens back to the organization’s strong ethos of “community caring for community” and why CITC was started in the first place – not just to help the less fortunate, but to remind the more fortunate the season is about showing kindness and good will to others.
From left to right: Annie Langlois (Sasaki), Jessie Delorey (RLB), Doreen Bennett (BWA), Elisabeth Neville Ambler (Lisa) (AKF Group)
From left to right: Lisa Madigan (VHB), Paulina Villarroel Cruz (Available Light)
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