2008 Statistics
A group of Holiday Express Volunteers and Comcast Giving Partners
at School For Children, Eatontown, NJ
at School For Children, Eatontown, NJ
53 Events between November 24 and December 24
4 days had 3 events per day – 3 of those “triples” were in a row!
17 days had 2 events per day; 7 days were singles
6 Public Performances
Red Bank Town Lighting
NJPAC
2 Count Basie Shows,
1300 Volunteers donated 6500 hours of their time
Warehouse
- Almost 850 people worked in the warehouse preparing for the events
- 35 youth organizations brought 500 kids
- 9 corporations helped with 160 adults
- 140 kids participated on their own
- 50 adults and seniors packed bags in the morning and afternoon
Events
- Each event had 25-30 volunteers
- There were always 15 or more musicians and singers, and often more than 25
- 15 or more “Elves,” truck drivers and costumed characters were at each event
- The bus, truck and van logged over 2,000 miles
- More than 10,000 meals and drinks were served; sometimes subs or pizza and other times a hot buffet or a sit-down meal
- Thousands of faces painted, hands tattooed and glittering halos worn by enthusiastic guests
- Countless boos for the Grinch, hugs for Frosty, Elmo and Rudolph and wide-eyed
smiles for Santa
Raffle Prizes
- We drew 300 raffle tickets for prizes at the events
- Most events had 6 to 8 raffles that included iPods, CD and DVD players, sports equipment, jerseys, toys, warm clothing and Wii systems
- These prizes were valued at more than $10,000
Gift Bags
- More than 15,000 gift bags containing at least 10 items were hand-packed in the warehouse and handed out at the events. About 200,000 items are pulled from inventory and packed in the gift bags
- We gave bags to 8,500 men, 4,400 women adn 2,300 kids
- These tote, duffle or backpack gifts bags were valued at more than $450,000
Giving Partners Program
- 55 organizations provided a "wish list" with requests ranging from below $500 to
more than $50,000 - 31 Giving Partners fulfilled these wishes with items such as flat screen TVs, DVDs, camcorders, computers, software program, Wii systems, kitchen equipment and special needs items
- These items were valued at more than $25,000