Donations are under way for the Burlington County Times’ 2020 Give A Christmas campaign, and this year’s money will be put toward $50 Walmart gift cards for families in need.
For eligible county families, two parents can receive one gift card between them and each kid can get his or her own, up to four cards per family, according to Melissa Acree, the executive director of NJ 211, the nonprofit organization that coordinates the program with the BCT.
At Walmart, the affordable superstore, $50 can go a long way, and $200 can go a really long way. Below, we examine just how much your donations may be able to help area families this holiday season.
Practical household items
At Walmart, a family can basically use $50 to make a room in its house or apartment fully functional.
A quick perusal of the Burlington Township Walmart prices, for example, shows that customers can purchase several cookware sets for less than $50. They are also able to find food storage container sets for less than $20 or less than $10.
Now let’s say a family has multiple children, and it wants to do what great American families do after dinner: plop down on the couch and watch television. With three or four $50 Walmart gift cards from Give A Christmas, a family can bring a living room together by purchasing a nice television. The Lumberton Walmart has several TVs available for less than $200, some for lower than $150.
Families can even find beds, nightstands and dressers in the same affordable, $50-$200 range.
Your donations this winter could help bring a family home together, according to Walmart prices at local stores.
Fun items for the kids
Does a family’s daughter or son like to play with dolls? Or maybe its child prefers toy trucks? Or perhaps the family has multiple kids, and one likes the dolls and the other the trucks?
Sets of both are available at the Cinnaminson Walmart, for example, for well under $50 combined.
If a kid is a gamer type, the Cinnaminson Walmart has many options for less than $25, including Minecraft.
If a child is a bundle of energy, basketball nets, backyard soccer sets and other small, beginner sports equipment can be purchased for way less than $50. A parent can probably buy several sports sets with one gift card.
And if a kid likes to read, a parent can basically buy a children’s library with a $50 gift card, with children’s classics like “Goodnight Moon” and several Dr. Seuss titles available for single-digit prices.
Your donations this winter could help a family buy gifts for kids interested in all different kinds of activities.
Give A Christmas has been helping families in need during the holidays since 1968. It helps hundreds of families each year. Eligible recipients include, but are not limited to, parents with sick children, single parent households, people who are struggling with addiction and people who are unemployed.
The BCT is accepting donations until Nov. 20 at https://stories.usatodaynetwork.com/burlingtonchristmas/.
County residents in need should text GAC to 898211, NJ 211’s communication line for this effort, to see if they are eligible to receive gift cards.
A local news and sports reporter around Pennsylvania and New Jersey since 2015, Jarrad Daniel Saffren joined The Burlington County Times’ award-winning local news team in October 2019, adding business, education and town government features to the coverage. Contact him at jsaffren@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @JarradSaff. Please help support local journalism with a subscription to The Burlington County Times.