An Update About OAR's Project Winter Cheer Program

There’s still time to help with OAR's Project Winter Cheer! This program supports children and families impacted by incarceration for the holiday season.

Due to COVID-19, we can’t host our annual Toy Drive and Wrapping Party this year.  We want participants, team members, volunteers, and supporters like you to stay safe and healthy.

But Project Winter Cheer (more information here) is moving forward nonetheless!  We’ve partnered with four other Arlington nonprofits to host an online fundraiser called “Bring a Neighbor Holiday Joy” on the Volunteer Arlington website, where donations will be collected until Friday, November 30th!

Each organization will receive donations from this fundraiser for their holiday programs for children and families. Your support will help OAR purchase and distribute gift cards for children on behalf of parents experiencing incarceration in our area. Families will be able to use the cards to safely buy any gifts, resources, or items needed for the holiday season.  Each child will also receive a hand-written letter from their parent letting them know they are thinking about them for the holidays.

Our goal is to provide each child with a $50 gift card, and there will be nearly 200 children or more participating in the program this year. We need your help! Together we can bring our community holiday cheer! 

Questions? Email Stephannie Ku at sku@oaronline.org or call 703-228-7132

"Thank y'all so much to help my kids in a time of need like this. This is such a great help to my kids and a little pressure off my love one's back who needs help while I am in a place like this getting myself in order."

-A letter to OAR from a parent incarcerated in the Arlington County Detention Facility on what Project Winter Cheer means to them and their family

How You Can Support Project Winter Cheer

• Donate to the "Bring a Neighbor Holiday Joy" fundraiser online on the Volunteer Arlington Website here by Friday, November 30, 2020.
• Purchase gift cards (ex. VISA, Target, Amazon, Walmart) in denominations of $25, $50, or $100 and mail them to the OAR office (1400 N. Uhle Street, Suite 704, Arlington, VA 22201). 
• Donate on the OAR website specifically to our children and family programs (Project Backpack/Project Winter Cheer) here. This donation form will remain available after the "Bring a Neighbor Holiday Joy" fundraiser ends. 
• Volunteer to help with guardian outreach, data entry, and purchasing and mailing gift cards on behalf of OAR. Please email Stephannie Ku at sku@oaronline.org if you want to help.
• Spread the word! Please help us share our social media posts about Project Winter Cheer, post on your own social media, send your friends and family the fundraiser link, etc. 

More About OAR

OAR is a community-based nonprofit which envisions a safe and thriving community where those impacted by the legal system enjoy equal civil and human rights. Through our upstream work, we are confronting and dismantling racism in the legal system and across all systems. Our downstream work allows us to be on the journey with individuals of all genders returning to the community from incarceration and support their families in the homecoming process. And we offer alternative sentencing options through community service to youth and adults to avoid the trauma of incarceration and instead remain a part of helping the community thrive.