We are thrilled to be wrapping up another successful year of Project Elf. Project Elf started seven years ago as a means to provide many of the individuals supported with a present to open on Christmas day. Many of the folks we support are very fortunate and have wonderful families to share the holiday with, but for those that don’t we wanted to be their extended family.
When it gets close to Christmas time, all of our regional offices supply Project Elf with a list of individuals who need sponsoring, along with some gift ideas and things they like. Once the complete list is compiled, we start recruiting elves! Our elves sponsor one, two, or sometimes several people and buy presents for them based off their wish list. We also raise funds to buy for the folks who didn’t get individually sponsored. PITCH-IN, a non-profit organization, raises donations through various events throughout the year. One of the most popular ones is allowing D&S employees to buy their casual wear. For a small donation, employees can dress casual for an entire month. We are blessed to have donations provided by our vendors, board members and other members of the community. Their support and contributions allow us to reach our goals each year.
When we started Project Elf in 2009, we sponsored 148 individuals. This year, we astonishingly sponsored over 360 very special people. Knowing that not one person that we support goes without a present on Christmas day is the most rewarding feeling. We can’t think of a better project to put our efforts into and are very fortunate to have as much support behind it as we do. We hope everyone has as great of a holiday as we’re having at D&S!
