2022 Holiday Smiles – supporting The Guild for Human Services

We were honored to be able to gather so many donations and gifts so that we could share Smiles Bags with holiday gifts to many of the students and residents in the youth and adult communities at The Guild.   The Guild for Human Services serves more than 140 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities annually through educational, residential, and clinical programming.  Each year, a number of individuals they serve spend their holidays at their Guild residence and/or rely on the Guild to receive holiday gifts.   The donations provided helped to ensure that everyone in The Guild community was able to experience the joy of the season with gifts to open for the holidays, regardless of their income status or where they call home. 

These pictures capture a small amount of the tremendous generosity that you all sent our way this holiday season.  So many people not pictured – but your impact is evident!  Heartfelt thanks to everyone, we are so honored that you would choose to donate to our organization so that we could provide Smiles to The Guild!

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2021 Smiles Crew – We love this bunch!

Warm Winter Smiles – December 2021

We were pleased to be able to work together with the Crossroads Family Center in East Boston, MA once again this year to provide Warm Winter Smiles to every family member residing within the shelter.  Thanks to the generous spirit of so many of our friends and family, we were able to gather new winter jackets, scarves, hats, mittens, socks and something fun for 50 parents and children.  It was amazing to see all of the donations and the kindness as people carefully chose items for specific families based on personalized requests and needs.  This Warm Winter Smiles project was our most collaborative yet!  Thank you to all who shared the giving spirit during the month of December to support our Smiles Project.  We are so blessed!

Thank You, Veterans! Veterans Day Smile Project  ~  November 2021

It was our honor to be able to provide more than 300 Thank You Smiles to the veterans that reside and are served by the New England Center and Home for Veterans in Boston, MA.  We have collaborated with this wonderful organization a few times now and we were thrilled to be able to do so again for Veterans Day 2021.  Thanks to so many of our generous supporters, each of the Thank You Smiles included a $5.00 gift card (to Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, CVS, Burger King, etc.) along with a shave kit (shaving cream, razors, lotion, etc.) and snacks.  Being able to provide these tokens of appreciation to our veterans means so much to us – we are so grateful for all of those that contributed to help make this large project happen!  Thank you!

2020 Comfort Smiles ~ November / Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, we were happy to have so many contributors that helped us provide Comfort Smile Packages to the families residing at the Crossroads Family Center in East Boston. Our Smile Packages provided personalized pajamas, bath robes, slippers, blankets, socks, fluffy things and other items of comfort for each parent and child – 35 in total!  We were so glad to be able to partner with this wonderful organization again this season, to provide a little something extra to the families during this pandemic.  Thank you to all who contributed!

Quarantine Smiles – July 2020

As we are in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and varying levels of quarantine, we were not able to have Easter or Mothers Day Smiles and our normal 4th of July Smiles were not possible either.  Shelters and non-profits were not able to receive donations overall.  😦

In July, we were able to partner with the Crossroads Family Center in East Boston for some Quarantine Smiles.  DJ’s Holiday Smiles was happy to be able to provide bedding and towels for the incoming families that would be new residents at the Crossroads Family Center.  We dropped off in a socially distant fashion and were glad for the opportunity!

Christmas 2019 – Musical Smiles

As a Christmas treat, we were happy to bring Smiles to the Care One Nursing Home in Lexington Massachusetts.  In this memory care unit, we brought more than 20 musical holiday toys that were hand selected by 3 of our youngest Smiles Helpers.  It was a fun surprise to share with the residents at Care One!

Winter 2019 – Turkey & Warmth Smiles

This winter season we collaborated with the Crossroads Family Center in East Boston to provide Turkey & Warmth Smiles.   For each of the 35 parent’s that resides at the Center, we provided a new winter jacket, hat, gloves, scarf, socks, and festive holiday candy.  We also provided 15 warm sets of bedding that included a new comforter, sheet set, pillows, blankets, crib sheets and towel sets for the incoming families that are arriving at the Center. Crossroads’ mission is to “support families as they transition from homelessness to independent living and self-sufficiency”. Today Crossroads provides shelter, case management, housing search, stabilization services, and food pantry assistance to homeless, formerly-homeless and low-income families.  We are happy to be able to bring Smiles to this wonderful organization alongside the generosity of our many supporters.

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Fourth of July – 2019 – Thank You Smiles

Once again this year, DJ’s Holiday Smiles worked with the New England Center for Homeless Veterans in Boston to provide “Thank You Smile” treats to each of the veterans that reside there.  With so many generous donations from our supporters, we made 300 packages that contained a gift card, snack and candy treat – all as a small thank you to the veterans for their bravery.  We are so grateful to all that contributed to making this year another success! 🙂

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Spring Smiles – April 2019

We were happy to work with the Crossroads Family Center in East Boston this past April for a multi-layer Spring Smile Project:  Linen sets for incoming families and Easter Baskets for current families.

Thanks to so many generous friends and family, DJ’s Holiday Smiles provided 20 comforters, sheet sets, towel sets, pillows, and blankets for the new families that will be arriving during the spring months.  We were also able to provide 30 personalized Easter Baskets that were filled with toiletries and necessities that had a fun flair. 

We are so grateful to all that helped with donations, shopping, and delivery. We are happy to be able to support so many people in our community, we couldn’t do it without so many smiling helpers! 

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Warm Winter Smiles – November 2018

DJ’s Holiday Smiles partnered again with the Crossroads Family Center in East Boston during the Thanksgiving season to provide Warm Winter Smiles to 35 parents residing at the shelter.  Each Smile Bag held a new winter jacket, hat/gloves/scarf, socks and slippers specifically selected for each mother and father.  The parents are often overlooked when seasonal donations are made, so we were more than happy to bring Smiles to them this year.  Once again, we were overwhelmed with the generosity of all of our donors and felt blessed to be able to share Smiles because of so many wonderful people.  Thank you to all!

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Back-to-School Smiles – September 2018

DJ’s Holiday Smiles had a fun Smile Project for this years back-to-school season: individualized lunch bags, water bottles, ice packs and snacks!  We were happy to be able to work with the Crossroads Family Center in East Boston to provide 27 Smiles to the children that reside there.  As always, thank you so much to everyone that contributed – we are so thankful!

Thank You Smiles ~ Fourth of July 2018

DJ’s Holiday Smiles collaborated with many generous donors this season in order to bring 325 Thank You Smile packages to the United States Veterans that reside at the New England Center for Homeless Veterans, Boston.  We were proud to be able to give small gifts of thank you to the deserving veterans who have bravely served our country.  Much appreciation to all that contributed, now and in the past.  We are so grateful for the on-going support! 🙂

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Pampering Smiles ~ Mothers Day 2018

We were so pleased to be able to provide 30 Pampering Smile boxes to the Crossroads Family Center for Mothers Day this season.  The Pampering Smile boxes contained all of the necessities of summer, with a fun flair!  Thanks to so many generous donors, we were able to create festive boxes containing flip flops, sunblock, sunglasses, lotion, shampoo, soap, loofah, etc.   We are so thankful that so many people care about DJ and helped us provide Smiles that made an impact to 30 deserving mothers.  Thank you! 🙂

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Winter Smiles ~ 2017

Our Winter Smiles project during December 2017 brought warmth along with smiles to all involved!  DJ’s Holiday Smiles was able to donate 28 Warm Smile Bags to the Crossroads Family Shelter in East Boston, MA.   These Smile Bags included warm essentials for the 28 families residing there –  bed in a bag sets, throw blankets, towel sets, pillows and fuzzy socks.   It was so much fun collecting goods and donations from so many of our loved ones and even from loved ones of loved ones!  Each of the 28 Winter Smiles Bags was customized for each family; we were even able to provide a few extra smile bags for the use of families that have not even moved into the shelter yet.  We are so thankful for everyone’s contributions – it means the world to us to be able to share smiles in DJ’s name – THANK YOU!  🙂

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Fourth of July 2017 – – Thank You Smiles

Our Thank You Smiles project for the 4th of July 2017 was a tremendous success!   DJ’s Holiday Smiles was able to donate 255 gift cards to the veterans staying at the New England Center for Homeless Veterans, located on Court Street in Boston.  From so many generous family members and friends, we received many cash donations as well as several gift cards.  Our gift card donation consisted of gift cards ranging from $5.00-$15.00 each, to shops such as Dunkin Donuts, Panera Bread, McDonalds, CVS and Walgreens.  Also, so jazz up each gift card packet, we added red white & blue mints.  Over 300 veterans stay at this center each night. Many thanks to all that contributed – we could NOT have done this without you.  🙂

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Easter 2017 – – Spring Smiles Project

DJ’s Holiday Smiles was happy to provide Spring Smiles to a family shelter located in Somerville, MA.  The shelter houses 5 families – we were able to create useful Easter-style care packages that included many necessity items with some fun items for each family member.  Items among each package included diapers, wipes, laundry detergent, toiletries, school supplies, towels, spring outfits, bubbles and much more.  We were happy to deliver these Spring Smiles mid-April, the week before Easter.  🙂

Thanksgiving 2016 – Warm Smiles Project

Thanks to so many generous donors, this Thanksgiving season, we were able to bring Warm Smiles to all of the parents staying at the Crossroads Family Center in East Boston, MA.   The Warm Smiles Project consisted of warm winter jackets selected specifically for each parent (26 mothers and 3 fathers) and packages of warm socks for all members of each family.    

We also gathered over 100 sets of socks, winter hats and mittens/gloves that  were contributed to help with the Crossroads Family Center’s turkey drive – an event where they hand out 300-400 turkeys to local families throughout the East Boston area.

End of Summer 2016 ~ Smile Project:  provided snacks, crafts, bubbles, kites and activities to the Crossroads Family Shelter in East Boston for their end of summer party

4th of July 2016 ~ Smile Project for:  New England Center for Homeless Veterans, Boston

Mothers Day 2016 ~ Smile Project for: Crossroads Family Shelter, East Boston, MA

Smile crew, hard at work for Mother’s Day 2016:

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Valentine’s Day 2016 ~ Smile Project for:  Crossroads Family Center, East Boston, MA

Valentine’s Day ~ 2016

Contact us:  djsholidaysmiles@gmail.com

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