Each year, New York Cares partners with hundreds of our Community Partners, including homeless shelters and other deserving nonprofit organizations, to provide holiday gifts for disadvantaged children, teens, and families, many of whom would not otherwise receive gifts during the holidays.

To accomplish this, we collect and screen more than 35,000 gift requests and send them to volunteers who purchase, wrap, and send the gifts to our partners.

Registration – Please apply as soon as possible, and no later than Wednesday, November 21st, to ensure that every person who writes a letter gets a gift.

Receipt of gift requests – We will mail gift request letters to you within one to two weeks after registering. You can also pick them up at the New York Cares office soon after we receive your request. If you have requested more than 50 letters, you will need to schedule a time to pick up them up.

Gift delivery – The Community Partners we work with often plan holiday parties to deliver gifts, so delivery information varies. The delivery date will be included in each letter, but in most cases it is early December. Send your gifts to the addresses indicated on the letters and include the recipient's name and tracking numbers.

Anyone can - including you! Create a team of volunteers with your company, friends, or civic group, or sign up as an individual to grant Winter Wishes. All you need to do is commit to buying one or more holiday gifts for New York City's underserved children and families.

You will receive a letter that contains a specific gift request. Gifts typically cost $40 or less before shipping costs. If the request is expensive or difficult to find, you can refer to our suggested gift list for teens and adults and for children for ideas. There is no designated minimum or maximum spending amount. Spend whatever amount you're comfortable with.

Each letter comes labeled with the name and tracking number of the individual who wrote it and the name and number of a contact person at the Community Partner with which they are affiliated. You can reach out to this person with questions about clothing sizes, favorite colors, ethnic preferences for toys, etc.

Your letter will include the recipient's name, delivery address, the delivery date (early December in most cases) and a tracking number. Please send wrapped gifts directly to the delivery address, and write the recipient's full name and tracking numbers on the outside of the wrapping paper. Include the same shipping and tracking information when sending gifts purchased online.

Download a copy of our tracking form to help you keep track of your team.

Yes, if you fulfilled one or more Winter Wish and would like a receipt for your purchases, please download a donation receipt.