Santa Boots 2019 Impact Report

2019 has been a year of celebration for Boot Campaign! We’ve gotten to look back at 10 years of serving veterans and their families and things are no different for the close of another year of giving back. This year, we also celebrate five years of providing a joy-filled Christmas for veteran and active duty military families through our annual holiday program, Santa Boots.

Boot Campaign’s Santa Boots program strives to spread extra holiday cheer to veteran and active duty military families who have experienced a particularly challenging time throughout the year. Through partnerships with national nonprofits – Armed Services YMCA and Operation Homefront — we are able to make spirits bright of military families nationwide. 

Thanks to the generous support of Americans, pretty patriotic partners and volunteers, Boot Campaign wrapped, packed, and hand delivered more than 100 HUGE packages to military families from Massachusetts to Hawaii! Our work this Christmas wouldn’t have been possible without the Jordan Spieth Family Foundation, Elf on the Shelf, Grit Expositions, Foster & Fathom, Premiere Meetings and Events, Ole Smoky Moonshine, Leadlease, UPS, and R.E. Cupp Construction. 

Here’s what Boot Campaign’s holiday gifts mean to some of the families we have served:

• “Yesterday was amazing. We were outside putting up lights and the kids thought they saw Santa drive by! Then when he stopped at our house Dakota (3) was jumping and cheering “Santa Santa ” it was so cool. Just having Santa and Mrs. Claus would have been enough. The gifts they brought were amazing. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought there would be so much. We let the kids open one present and it was exactly what they wanted. This will be a forever memory for my family. Thank you all for blessing our family with all you and everyone involved did for my family.” – Janut, Spouse of Army Veteran
• “Today we were more than blessed with this! A few weeks ago I received a call from a girl telling me that someone in my neighborhood nominated us to receive some gifts …And today they came with all this! We opened some and others will leave for Christmas. But we are very happy and grateful, we never imagined that something like this would happen to us!” – Zuheily, Spouse of Active Duty Airman
• “I didn’t count them, but including the beautiful stockings for each family member (5) there must have been over 20 packages. After the 4th or 5th load, I could see that she was becoming a little overwhelmed, but placed each wrapped gift around their tree.  These were the only gifts that I could see. Once I was finally done, she contacted her husband who was somewhere in the middle east on Facetime and introduced me and showed him what I had brought. As you can see by the smile on HIS face, he was extremely happy and she said after I left, he was quite emotional. As I was leaving, the school bus was dropping off the older brothers, who I was told later were extremely excited when they saw what Santa had dropped off under their tree.  I received a text while driving back to Pennsylvania and I quote: ‘Our family is beyond grateful for all of this that you guys have done for us, words cannot express… My husband was very emotional when you left, he couldn’t believe it and the boys were so happy and kept thanking the soldiers for everything. THANK YOU.” – John Rickards, Operation Homefront Representative on a delivery to an Active Duty Army family
• “We loaded all the gifts in a red wagon so it’d be easier to move. I unloaded the wagon from the car and met him outside. He was already thanking us then asked ‘Which gift do I pick for Gabby?’ Then I told him he didn’t have to pick, they were all for them! That’s when the tears came.” – Delivery to Army Veteran via Operation Homefront

We are so grateful for all those that joined us to serve military families through our Santa Boots efforts this year. This program would not be possible without you.

Join our Santa Boots efforts in 2020!