Bright Holidays - A Jacksonville, Florida Charity for Underprivileged Students and Families

Ways to Help Underprivileged Students

Helping is easy and rewarding. Bright Holidays encourages anyone looking to lend a hand to get involved. Currently, Bright Holidays is accepting donations for the 2009 holiday season and welcomes contributions of any amount. Every dollar helps and, please remember, Bright Holidays uses all monies raised to help those in need, i.e., Bright Holidays retains nothing for salaries or routine operating expenses. If you would like to help us brighten someone's holidays, use the Donate button on this page and you'll bring joy to someone less fortunate this holiday season. Note, in 2010 we'll send you a report showing how we spent the monies raised.

In addition to raising funds, Bright Holidays also welcomes volunteers and is currently looking for those who have time in early December to shop, wrap and deliver gifts of clothing, food, school supplies and other essential items. For students, Bright Holidays offers a fun, festive way to earn service hours. For families, Bright Holidays affords an opportunity to give as a family by participating in wrapping and delivering presents. Currently, we have Wrapping Days scheduled for Saturday, December 5 and Saturday, December 12, from 8:30 to 12:30. Please contact us to sign up.

Please get involved and enjoy the season of giving. Your contribution of time and/or money will truly have an impact and you'll gain the satisfaction of knowing you made a difference in someone's life.

One-Time Online Donation

Donate to Bright Holidays using PayPal »»

Know that Bright Holidays uses every dollar of every donation to help those in need. Nothing is retained for salaries, office space or other routine operating expenses.

Donation by Mail

If you would like to donate by mail, please send your check, payable to Bright Holidays, 24532 Deer Trace Drive, Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082.

Frequently Asked Questions About Donations

Is my contribution tax-deductible?
Yes. Bright Holidays is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization and all donations are fully tax deductible.

How will the my donation be used? Will a portion of my donation go towards paying your staff?
All monies raised by Bright Holidays go to help those in need. Nothing is retained for salaries, office space or other routine operating expenses. This is possible because Bright Holidays relies solely on volunteers and enjoys business relationships with area firms who provide pro bono accounting, legal, marketing and technology services.

How does Bright Holidays identify those in need?
Bright Holidays works through local schools where, over the course of the fall semester, faculty members determine who is in need of assistance. Each school compiles a list of students (and families) and, upon approval by the school principal, submits its list to Bright Holidays.

What types of items or gifts does Bright Holidays actually provide?
Bright Holidays provides comfort to children and their families in many ways. Since 2003 Bright Holidays has provided food, clothing, school supplies, books and other essential items. Bright Holidays also provided some small children with toys.

Does Bright Holidays really make a difference?
We believe Bright Holidays truly has an impact. Bright Holidays began when its founder learned of children: who stayed home from school when temperatures dropped because they didn't own a coat; who had never received a holiday gift; who slept on floors without blankets; who didn't have basic school supplies; and who went without food because their families had very little income. These are the people Bright Holidays helps.

How did Bright Holidays perform in 2008?
Despite a troubled economy and increasing competition for discretionary monies to support those less fortunate, Bright Holidays' 2008 campaign exceeded every expectation. Knowing the difficulties many faced, our Board of Directors had hoped only to duplicate the success of the 2007 campaign which raised $46,858 and provided assistance to 290 children and 112 families. The 2008 campaign, I am pleased to report, generated $57,725, a 23% increase, and allowed Bright Holidays to touch 400 children and nearly 175 families.

In 2008, Bright Holidays received 136 gifts ranging in value from $8.00 to $20,000. The average gift was $424 with the $20,000 gift and $279 without it. The median gift was $100. Of those who contributed in 2007, 58% joined us again in 2008 and, of those who repeated, 75% either contributed at the same level or increased their donation. In addition to individual gifts and gifts from local businesses, Bright Holidays received substantial gifts from Frances King Insurance Agency, NelNet, Predator Products, Publix Charities, and Winn-Dixie. On behalf of Bright Holidays, we appreciate the strong financial support of these organizations.

As in the prior years, we owe much of our success to the strong support of many in our community. David Garrard, our most prominent Jacksonville Jaguar, joined Bright Holidays again as honorary Board chair and personally delivered gifts to several area families. First Coast News provided prime-time television coverage and, as in 2007, allowed Bright Holidays to staff the volunteer phone bank from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on four weeknights in December. The Community Foundation directed people our way and, in short, people, businesses and local institutions got involved and helped Bright Holidays advance its mission.

In 2008, we experienced tremendous growth in volunteer support. We had 15 shoppers, three drivers with vans for deliveries and more than 50 volunteers for each of our two wrapping days. The support of our volunteers was truly heartwarming. I should also note that three area firms provided pro bono legal, tax and technology services, respectively: Reznicsek, Fraser, Hastings, White & Shaffer; Presser, Lahnen &admp; Edelmen; and Gist Create.

As in prior years, Bright Holidays worked with school principals and their staffs to identify those in need. In 2008, Bright Holidays expanded its outreach as planned, increasing from 12 to 21 schools, the names of which follow:

• Early Steps for infants/toddlers with developmental delays
• Arlington Heights Elementary
• Biltmore Elementary
• Cedar Hills Elementary
• Chet's Creek Elementary
• Englewood Elementary
• Highlands Elementary
• North Shore Elementary
• Ortega Elementary
• Pine Estates Elementary
• Rufus E. Payne Elementary
• Rutledge Pearson Elementary
• San Jose Elementary
• Spring Park Elementary
• West Jacksonville Elementary
• Mandarin Middle
• Eugene Butler Middle
• J. E. B. Stuart Middle
• Clay County High
• Douglas Anderson High
• North Florida School for mildly to moderately disabled children

Also, in keeping with both our tradition and our promise, we incurred no out-of-pocket or operating expenses and relied solely on volunteer support and donations to do the work of Bright Holidays. Of the money spent on gifts, more than 95% went for essential items such as food, clothing and school supplies. The table below summarizes our 2008 gift purchases.

Spending Category	Percent of Total
Food	53%
Clothing	41%
School Supplies	3%
Simple, developmental games/toys	3%
Total	100%

 

In December, one principal identified a family that had lost everything in a fire. Our Board of Directors became personally involved, raising emergency funds to purchase beds, small appliances, linens, clothing and more to help this family get back on its feet.

As in prior years, we received many thank you notes from students, their parents and school administrators; please find samples attached (with names removed).

• Eugene Butler
• Mandarin Middle
• Pine Estates
• Arlington Heights

Also, as in prior years, a surprising number of gifts arrived after the close of the school year and, as a result, Bright Holidays again began the current year with surplus funds. In an effort to put these monies to good use, while remaining true to our mission, Bright Holidays will continue to expand its outreach — we added nine schools in 2008 — and will add schools in 2009. In addition, several principals have identified students who fall outside of the normal relief programs and consistently have no money for breakfast or lunch. To avoid having these children go hungry, our Board of Directors authorized funding of student food accounts through www.mylunchmoney.com. Again, funding will require recommendations from school principals and we will specify that students may use Bright Holidays funds only for meals and may not purchase a la carte items.

Expenses for the year totaled $425 for postage, filing/bank fees, domain renewal (www.brightholidays.org), etc., well below 1% of monies received. As before, volunteers performed all of Bright Holidays' work in 2008.

What are some challenges for 2009?
We anticipate new challenges in 2009. Raising funds in our current economic climate will doubtless prove difficult while the need for charitable giving appears destined for new heights. Difficulty notwithstanding, our Board of Directors remains committed to helping the children of less fortunate families, often the unintended victims of lost jobs and rising costs. We will therefore expand our ranks, adding two to three new members, increase the number of volunteers and raise the intensity of our fund-raising efforts. We will also remain vigilant in our use of time and resources to ensure we continue returning virtually 100% of every dollar raised to our community.

It is our hope that this information gives you confidence that 2008 donation were well spent. Moreover, I hope it encourages you to be a part of Bright Holidays and to continue supporting our efforts. Together, we can make a difference.

I can't make a donation right now. Are there other ways I can contribute?
If you can't make a donation for the 2008 holiday season, give us your time. We're currently looking for volunteers to help wrap and deliver gifts of clothing, food, school supplies and other essential items.