There are still children going without

Dear Friends of Holly House,

We are grateful for all the support you have given Holly House and the many children we serve. Because of your help we have been able to provide Christmas for over 2,000 children.

BUT there are still children out there that are going without. So, with just a little more help, we will be able to reach out to make sure our kids get what they need.

Please take a moment to read and print out our sponsorship packet (628 KB). Give it to your family, friends, and anyone you know who owns or manages a business. Help us spread the word.

Thank you,

Pam

Pam Martinez
Holly House Executive Director

Click here to download PDF (628 KB)

Fundraiser at Romano's Macaroni Grill set for 9/23

Please join us at Romano's Macaroni Grill on Wed 9/23! Bring your friends and have a night out.

Dine with us (11am-10pm) at the Alderwood Mall location, and mention the fundraiser. 

Macaroni Grill will be donating a portion of the daily sales to Holly House. 

This will be a great way to support the work we do.

We will also be collecting new socks and underwear. 

See event on Facebook for more details, and flyer pictured below

click to enlarge

First ever Fundraiser Gala was a huge success!

Guests having a ball raising their paddles

Well, we did it!! Our Gala Committee put in many hours of hard work to pull off an amazing event that helped us raise just over $13,000 for Holly House. If you were one of our guests, we are so grateful that you joined us. If you missed it this year, please plan for next year! We'd love to have you in on the fun.

Many of our supporters were unaware that kids go to school without socks and underwear, or sleep in cold rooms because heat is not a luxury they can afford. The pajamas, necessities, and coats are not just gifts during the holidays, they are basic needs that often go unmet. Holly House is more than just toys and gift giving - it's helping families provide things to their children than they so desperately wish they could, but just can't at the moment. Many of our clients become volunteers because they want to give back to the organization that helped them at a time when they needed it.

One of our clients sharing her
experience with Holly House

One of the highlights of the night was hearing from two of the mothers of families supported by Holly House. Their moving stories brought a feeling to the room that was both inspiring and humbling. The work that Holly House is able to do because of volunteers and donors is truly appreciated by our clients, and hearing it in person makes it very motivating to want to continue.

At the Gala (which was held at the Mountlake Terrace Senior Center) photos with Alice in Wonderland characters were taken, raffle tickets purchased, silent auction items were won, live auction items were fought over, and in the end, money was raised for Holly House to continue to support the 2,000 kids we serve in 15 Edmonds School District Schools. We also collected from guests quite a few bags of donations of toys, stuffed animals, and other items that they brought to contribute to the cause.

Hot, cold, and passed appetizers
plus desserts filled our plates

What a spread we had, thanks to the Red Dragon Casino! There was wine, dessert, and lots of laughter. Troy McVickers was our MC and auctioneer and encouraged everyone to participate; from the sounds in the room and the looks on people's faces, he really did a wonderful job.

Thanks to David Pan from MLTnews.com for writing an amazing piece for the online papers, and David Carlos for taking beautiful photographs. You can find the article here - please check it out and read more about the evening! Go to our Facebook page to find the photo album with all of the photos from the night. Feel free to share any you have taken as well!

Photo booth fun

PHOTO BOOTH: If you chose to partake in the photo booth at the event, you can find your photos here. Thank you Heidi Marletto for donating your photo booth.

Some of the live auction items

Thank you to our sponsors for the night: Red Dragon Casino, Thrivent Financial, System Solutions of WA, Pinnacle Electric, Electonic Business Machines, Golden Insurance, LLC, and Aramark. In addition, all of our auction items were donated by local businesses; without them, our Gala wouldn't have been the success it was. A huge thank you to the Holly House volunteers who gave tirelessly to plan, decorate, organize, and execute a magical evening; Karen Orstad, Lisa Alfie, Ingrid Adams, Cherry Smith, Janine Kirkpatrick, Ella Nakamura, Monty Reed, Aimee LePage, Jen Winckler, Leslie Smith, Milt Culver, Annie Nygaard, Briana Wirtz, Kim Gorney, Cindy Goodman, Alicia Carter, and the crew of High School students - we couldn't have done it without you all!!!

Gala Auction item preview

We are blessed to have many exciting items up for auction during our Gala on March 7th. Thank you to our generous donors for making these part of our event! Come experience a live auctioneer and get ready to have some fun. We will also be offering a silent auction for some of these items. PLUS, a raffle - where a ticket will earn you a chance to win some great items, and you don't need to be part of the bidding process.

All proceeds go to operational costs for Holly House 2015. Bring your checkbook for easy checkout! Don't have tickets yet? Purchase them here.

7 Night Stay in Lake Chelan: Privately owned 2 bedroom/2 bathroom ground floor condo. (Details and restrictions available at Gala) Value $2,100

Chihuly Glass and Garden Exhibit and lunch for 4. You and three friends will enjoy all this exhibition has to offer!  In the Exhibition Hall, Glasshouse and Garden, you’ll view a presentation of Chihuly’s significant series of work including the suspended Glasshouse Sculpture.  Stroll through the Garden day or night and enjoy the installations juxtaposed with the natural environment.  Enjoy the dishes in the Collection Cafe as you’re surrounded by Chihuly’s personal collections.  Two exhibition catalogs are yours to keep as mementos of this experience.  $250 value

Other live auction items include: 

• Lynnwood Police officer citizen ride along experience (6 hours)
• Pool party for up to 25 people at the Lynnwood Recreation Center $195 value
• Gift certificate for 4 to Edmonds Performing Arts center "Sing-a-long Grease". Friday April 24th 7:30pm. $60 value
• Handcrafted "Frozen" themed girl's bedroom set
• 2 American Girl 20” Dolls with outfits
• Mariner Moose and 2 opening day game tickets + more
• 2 different wine tasting experiences
• Instant wine cellar (12 bottles)
• Cooking class for 2 at Tom Douglas' Hot Stove Society Cooking School

Silent Auction

Our Silent auction will be teeming with activity as well. Here's a sampling of what will be available at the Gala for bidding: 

• 2 Miche Purses
• Pamper Me (female) basket
• Theater tickets (Driftwood Players)
• Melissa & Doug puzzle & toy basket
• Restaurant gift certificates
• Cake Pop Basket
• Coffee Basket
• Wine and Chocolate Basket
• ...and more!!

Please join us for this fun-filled night, and help support the 2,000 low-income children in the 15 Edmonds School District schools that we will be supporting this year during the holidays. Helps us make this an event to remember! 

Volunteer spotlight: Gala committee member, 13 year old Leslie Smith

Here at Holly House, we are always thankful for our volunteers, but occasionally one comes into our folds that truly is a treasure.

Meet Leslie Smith, a 13 year old high school student who is very interested in giving back to the community. She worked her heart out for 3 days at the Holly House Event in the pajama booth and is currently serving on the Gala Committee.

She says "I loved the feeling - I loved seeing the people get their stuff and how happy they were." For Leslie, it not only was a fun experience, but she really enjoyed seeing the looks on people's faces and to see who the gifts are going to and hear why they need them.

She's currently working with the Gala Committee because she had a desire to keep helping Holly House and has had lots of fun meeting every week. She's gone to local businesses asking for donations and sponsorships, and sold tickets to people at her dad's Windermere office. She's personally advocating that parents of her friends join us on March 7th, in addition to volunteering year round with Holly House. Her drive and enthusiasm are contagious and just what is needed in our community.

Leslie wants people to know how fun and rewarding it is to volunteer and pay it forward in your local community. It's also important to recognize how many people are in need of help. For her, Holly House is the perfect way to do that.

Leslie's mom, Cherry Smith, says that her daughter wants people to look outside of themselves and see how much need there is, compared to how many of us have so much. Sometimes the simplest gift is not giving gifts but giving time, reaching out and helping.

Leslie would encourage people to volunteer, to help kids like her who would go without if not for you and your generous spirit. People coming to Holly House so desperately in need for their kids and are so appreciative. Leslie has seen this first hand and has been a great outreach ambassador for Holly House.

“I think she is pretty awesome!” says mom, Cherry Smith. We couldn't agree more.

Thank you Leslie!!

Please join us for our March 7th Gala, and meet Leslie and many of our other great volunteers. 

Spring Fundraiser Gala Announced - March 7th

Get your tickets before they are all gone! 

March 7th, 2015
6pm - 9pm
Mountlake Terrace Senior Center
Tickets - $35

Join us for our first ever Fundraiser Gala, "Don't be late for a very important date".  Enter our Wonderland and meet Alice, The Queen of Hearts, and the Cheshire Cat - plus have your picture taken with them!!

It is sure to be a magical evening filled with celebration and hope. There will be an exciting live auction, plus a silent auction. Get an overview of the work that we do at Holly House. Meet some of our families and hear how Holly House has helped them. Meet some of our volunteer team, and make connections with local community members.

All the while enjoying heavy hors d'oeuvres and dessert, plus a wine tasting.

We will also be selling raffle tickets for some lovely prizes. All proceeds of the event go towards operating costs for Holly House, and as our first large scale fundraiser we are hopeful it will provide much needed funds to sustain administration costs, plus storage and procurement costs of holiday gifts and necessities for the 2,000 low income children we support in the Edmonds School District.

We will have a donation collection bin available; you can bring your favorite toy, sports equipment, or even socks and underwear to add to our cause (items for teens especially needed).

Visit our special Gala page to purchase tickets online. 

If you are interested in donating any items for the auction or raffle, please email us using the Contact Us button on the right of the page, or by calling Pam Martinez at 425-673-0526.

December gift giving

We had an amazing event this year, and are very thankful to our supporters.  As we get ready to close out 2014, please consider supporting Holly House 2015 with a donation by Dec 31, 2014. All donations are tax-deductible, as we are a 501(c)(3) charity (funds are processed through our fiscal sponsor, Protocol Foundation).

Donations can be made without a Paypal account

Donate!
You can donate with a credit card via Paypal by clicking the Donate button above (you don't need a Paypal Account - see image to the right). We use bulk buying power to buy discounted toys and necessities, as well as use the funds to support our operating costs.

Some great deals can be found!

Shop!
You can also keep your eye out for after Christmas sales and clearance items. Your donations can go twice as far if you buy things at over half off! You may leave your gifts at one of our year-round drop boxes. Toys, warm winter pajamas, socks and underwear are all greatly needed by our families.

Update from PF Chang's fundraiser

We are happy to share that we raised over $1800 in partnership with Alderwood PF Chang's this past month. Thank you to everyone who came out to dine with Holly House on September 24th! This was our first time working with PF Chang's, and we were impressed by their hospitality and dedication to our fundraiser. Their staff dressed up as popular characters, as well as hosted the raffle of donations we gathered. Were you one of our raffle winners??






We are grateful that Princesses Elsa and Anna were able to come and join in all the fun. The little girls, dressed up in their princess outfits, were star struck as they met their favorite princesses.  Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped organize the raffle, sell tickets, promote, and greet people during the event.

With your help, we came very close to our goal of $2,000. We appreciate your ongoing support as we continue to raise funds to support our mission to help 2000 low income children in 15 schools in the Edmonds School District. We are fully funded by donations and grants, and can't do it without YOU!

Invite to PF Chang's fundraiser

If you're like me, you need everything written down to remember it all! Click on this link to add yourself to the facebook event for our PF Chang's Fundraiser 9/23 from 11am - 10pm. 

Part of the wonderful staff from PF Changs in front of the newly decorated horse outside

PF Chang's is donating 20% of their daily sales for ONE DAY only to Holly House. See characters in costume throughout the day: Moglie, Ariel, Peter Pan, Jasmine through out the day and Princesses Anna and Elsa from 4:00p - 8:30p. Plus, there will be raffles for many great gift baskets.

PF Chang's Fundraiser Sept 23rd, 2014

Please come and eat with us on Sept 23rd 

and support Holly House! 

PF Chang's is donating 20% of their sales and hosting a raffle for some fabulous gift baskets that have been donated by Holly House supporters. This is an easy way to help fund our operating costs - all you need to do is enjoy some delicious food with your friends and family on Tuesday 9/23! Also, come in the week before to view the gift baskets and enter for your chance to win!

PF Chang's Alderwood Mall, Lynnwood WA
Tuesday September 23rd, 2014
11 am - 10 pm

Princesses Anna and Elsa will be visiting from 4pm to 8pm!

Holly House - Flyer - PF Chang's Fall Fundraiser - 2014

Fundraiser update - it's not too late to show your support!

We had a successful fundraiser this past Tuesday, raising over $1000 for Holly House. We are working hard to keep up with the demand, and all of the funds will go towards ensuring this program continues for the low-income families in Edmonds School District. 

Two of our clients, Maria & Rachel, shared touching stories of what Holly House has meant to them and their children.

Rachel sharing her story

Maria talked about how hard she works to take care of her two little girls but it’s such a struggle, especially during the holidays. Without Holly House her children would have gone without.

Rachel shared that because of Holly House her family is able to keep up with their holiday traditions, even though throughout the year they struggle to make ends meet due to disabilities and injuries.

"My kids are old enough to question Santa Claus because other kids tell them he's not real. But I can tell you that on Christmas morning when they see what's under the tree, they believe."

 Instead of just new and much needed clothes for school, they are able to get things from their wish lists that the parents can select from Holly House.

Donors ready to help

In order to provide the joy of gift giving (and also some necessities like socks, underwear, and pajamas), we need your support.

Our operational costs are only 8% of our total $500,000 budget. Can you help us keep Holly House running smoothly and help out 2000 kids served in 15 Edmonds Schools? Our goal is to be able to support all 43 local schools, giving any family who requests it the joy of the holidays - without worry of meeting their household needs at the same time.

You can donate online by clicking the DONATE button on the right side of the screen, or you can mail a check to:
Holly House/Protocol Foundation
17561 110th Lane SE
Renton, WA 98055
(All donations are fully tax deductible. Protocol Foundation is our fiscal sponsor and is a 501(c)3 charity.)

Holly House Fundraiser 5/27/14

We invite you to attend our first ever fundraiser for Holly House! As our charity has grown, so have our operational costs. We rely 100% on donations and grants to fund this program which reaches 2000 children in the local Edmonds School District. Please come learn more about our program, our goals, our needs, and ways that you can help. These children need a hero in their life - could it be YOU?

Join us Tuesday 5/27 from 7-9pm for appetizers, wine, and dessert at Madison Alderwood Park Apartments Clubhouse (18031 36th Ave W, Lynnwood). RSVP to Pam Martinez 425-435-1403 or pjkringle@comcast.net