BEARing Gifts, BEAR’s holiday program provides brand-new holiday gifts to at-risk and CPS-involved children who may otherwise not experience the joy of the holiday season. There are FIVE different ways to get involved – sponsor a child/children, host a toy drive, donate monetarily, shop our Amazon wishlist, or volunteer. For a flyer to share with friends, family, and colleagues – please click here!
Program Sponsors
This year’s program is possible thanks to our Holiday Heroes, who are making a tremendous impact on the children we serve through their selfless participation!
Get Involved this Holiday Season!
Donate
If you would like to donate monetarily to the overall program, simply click here or the graphic above to get started, and designate ‘BEARing Gifts’ as your program of choice. IMPORTANT: if you donate in-kind items to BEAR, please make sure to complete an In-Kind Gift Form.
Sponsor a Child
One way to get involved in BEARing Gifts this year is by Sponsoring a Child or Children. Children’s information is solely available to those who submit sponsorship requests. Upon submitting your digital request for one or more kiddos, you will receive an email with details of each specific child and their wish list. Please make sure to provide at least one gift from that child’s wish list or any age-appropriate gift. {If you want to give more you are welcome to do so.} All gifts for sponsored children must be dropped off at BEAR’s HQ or at a participating location by Monday, December 16th!
Shop on Amazon!
Interested in contributing to this year’s program in a different way? Consider shopping on BEAR’s personalized Amazon Wishlist . When you buy from this list, items arrive directly at our office, where they will be immediately distributed in our warehouse for BEARing Gifts. Please be sure to include your name and address so we can acknowledge your donation accordingly!
Host a Toy Drive
Host a Toy DriveProvide holiday cheer to children by hosting a holiday toy drive and delivering them to BEAR’s HQ/ Warehouse (3572 E TC Jester Blvd, Houston, TX 77018) by Monday, December 16th. Please keep in mind, that the earlier the drop-off date the easier it is to fill children’s wishes before Christmas day.
Register your 2024 Toy Drive here! For ideas on popular gifts per age range —> please click here. Please remember that all gifts must be new and unwrapped. If you have any questions about hosting a toy drive, please contact Outreach and Heart Gallery Manager, Merri Hahn.
*Bikes = we prefer them to not be assembled, but we are more than happy to accept them any way we can get them!
*IMPORTANT: If you donate to BEAR, please make sure to complete an In-Kind Gift Form so we can properly thank you!
Additional Drop Off Locations & Extended Hours
BEAR warehouse hours of operation starting Mon., Dec. 2 – Fri., Dec. 20th are Monday – Friday from 9 am-4 pm with extended warehouse dates and hours:
- Tuesday, December 3rd – BEAR will be open until 6:30pm
- Thursday, December 5th – BEAR will be open until 6:30pm
- Saturday, December 7th – BEAR will be open 1pm – 5pm
- Tuesday, December 10th – BEAR will be open until 6:30pm
- Wednesday, December 11th – BEAR will be open until 6:30pm
- Thursday, December 12th – BEAR will be open until 6:30pm
- Saturday, December 14th – BEAR will be open 10am – 3pm
- Sunday, December 15th – BEAR will be open 1pm – 3pm
- Monday, December 16th – BEAR will be open until 6:30pm
- Tuesday, December 17th – BEAR will be open until 6:30pm
- Wednesday, December 18th – BEAR will be open until 6:30pm
- Thursday, December 19th – BEAR will be open until 6:30pm
Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center – November 1st – December 15th – Holiday Hugs are back! Spread joy this season by dropping off a toy donation at any Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center near you! To find your nearest location, please click here!
Precinct 2 Community Centers – Exciting news! You can now drop off your toy donations at any of the TEN Precinct 2 Community Centers across the greater Houston area. Help bring joy to children this holiday season by giving at a location near you!
Tide Cleaners (33 locations!) – Thanks to our very generous partners at Tide Cleaners, you are welcome to drop off new toys, or even sponsored gifts at 33 convenient locations across the greater Houston area! Find the Tide Cleaners nearest you and make a difference today!
Volunteer
To get started, CLICK HERE to create a volunteer account and see ALL of the off-site and on-site volunteer opportunities that YOU can be a part of! There are numerous fun-filled opportunities for individuals, families, and companies alike! Please note, all opportunities have a set number of volunteers. If you see a time slot that is filled, please check out another day and time to join in the fun! Thank you for helping us make the holidays a little brighter for countless children!
Please pay close attention when signing up, as some opportunities are at partnering agency locations. Filling these volunteer positions are just as vital as our on-site opportunities at BEAR’s HQ. Together, we are able to provide the at-risk and CPS-involved children in our community a happy holiday season!
For any questions regarding volunteer opportunities, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Alexis Evans at Alexis.Evans@harriscountytx.gov
2023 Highlights
Last holiday season, we served over 26,000 children during our BEARing Gifts program, and this was all made possible because of Y-O-U! Thanks to individual donors, volunteers, and community partners, we were able to provide holiday cheer to thousands of children! Whether you donated 100 toys or 1 toy, it all truly made a difference! You made a child smile during the holiday season, and for that, we cannot thank you enough!
