Utica, NY— A new toy waiting on Christmas morning. A warm pair of mittens for the walk to school. Cereal for breakfast and food for Christmas dinner.
They may seem like simple things, but for a family struggling to keep up with the cost of everyday necessities, they can mean everything.
This holiday season, The Neighborhood Center is preparing to provide Holiday Assistance to approximately 500 local families, including as many as 2,000 children — and the agency is asking the community to help make it possible.
“We see the names. We hear the stories. We talk to parents who are worried about how they are going to make Christmas happen for their children,” said Sandy Soroka, Executive Director of The Neighborhood Center. “Holiday Assistance is about so much more than putting presents under a tree. It is about letting a family know that during a difficult time, their community sees them and cares about them.”
The Neighborhood Center has already seen signs that families are struggling more this year. Requests for its annual Kicks for Kids shoe program more than doubled from the previous year, and last holiday season, families continued reaching out for help through Christmas Eve.
In 2025, Holiday Assistance served more than 400 families. Behind those numbers are families who may have never imagined they would need to ask for help. One parent who received Holiday Assistance last year shared:
“It was the first time my family had ever needed to ask for this kind of help, and I felt so much shame that we couldn’t provide Christmas gifts for our children. My husband had undergone a several surgeries, and I had to stay home to care for him. We were doing everything we could, but Christmas was simply beyond what we could manage.
When I spoke with The Neighborhood Center, I was met with kindness instead of judgment. They made sure our children had gifts to open and connected us with resources that helped beyond the holidays.
I’ll never forget what someone did for our family during one of the hardest times in our lives. I look forward to the day when I can adopt a family and give someone else the same hope that was given to us.”
For $50, a donor can sponsor one local child and help make sure there is a gift under the tree chosen especially for them.
“The families who come to us are doing the best they can,” Soroka said. “Sometimes one unexpected illness, job loss or expense is all it takes to turn a family’s world upside down. Holiday Assistance gives our community an opportunity to step in during that difficult moment and say, ‘We’re here.’”
The mission of The Neighborhood Center, Inc. is to enrich the lives of individuals and families through cooperative opportunities, resources, and advocacy which embrace diversity, promote empowerment, and foster responsible citizenship. Through its sustained pattern of activities that benefit children, families, and the community since 1905, The Neighborhood Center, Inc. continues to advance in our enduring mission of truly “human” service.
For more information about The Neighborhood Center, call (315) 272-2600, or visit www.neighborhoodctr.org
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