‘Invest in You’ Annual Shoebox-Packing Party

‘Invest in You’ Annual Shoebox-Packing Party

Invest in You ladies, be merry, because it’s time for our annual event to pack wrapped shoeboxes filled with gifts for Lehigh Valley kids in need. This year, we’ve pledged 100 gifts for families Cay Galgon Life House supports.

Our Invest in You shoebox-packing party is 6 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11.

Cay Galgon Life House operates a group home in Bethlehem for homeless pregnant women. The center prepares mothers to be self-reliant, supports their families up to two years postpartum and offers a community outreach program.

This is our fifth annual Invest in You shoebox-packing party. Our inaugural effort gathered 51 gifts. In 2022, we donated 81 gifts. In 2023, we donated 115 boxes and gift cards to the Hispanic Center of the Lehigh Valley. Last year, we gave 120 gifts to Cay Galgon and to Mosser Elementary School.

This year, all of our shoeboxes will be for little ones ages 4 and younger!

Here’s how it works: Our generous MtM community wraps and brings empty shoeboxes and buys small, age-appropriate items to stuff them with. For example, you might contribute 10 boxes of crayons and 10 pairs of mittens, while another participant might pitch in five bath toys and five toothbrushes. Don’t worry, we made a list to ensure we get a good variety of gifts.

Then these friendly women join us for a fun packing party to compile everyone’s donations into shoeboxes filled with love and thoughtfulness that will brighten the holidays for kids in our neighborhoods.

MtM Financial Group will provide dinner and wrapping supplies.

Here are the details:

When: 6-8 p.m. Thurs. Dec. 11

What: Dinner, dessert, wine and laughs while we gather donations, fill and wrap shoeboxes

Where: Community room at the Bethlehem Township Volunteer Fire. Co., next door to the MtM Financial Group office: 4519 Hanoverville Road, Bethlehem (L. Nazareth Twp.)

Here’s how to participate:

• RSVP by Dec. 8 using the form below, so we can prepare enough food.
• Sign up here to bring donations of goodies to pack in the shoeboxes. All of the children who receive our boxes this year will be 4 years old or younger, including babies.
• Bring your contribution—and as many empty shoeboxes as you can gather—on Dec. 11. It’s especially helpful if you wrap your shoeboxes at home before you come!
• Invite a friend, and come hungry and ready to meet new people and share some laughs! We’ll have fun while helping children in our community.

If you can’t join us on Dec. 11 but want to help, we’d appreciate donations of empty shoeboxes, gifts to pack in them, wrapping paper or tape. Drop off your contributions at our office any time before the event. Thank you for your support!

Financial advisor Alyssa Young hosts Invest in You: Connecting & Inspiring Lehigh Valley Women, a quarterly series of gatherings for women to socialize, share, learn—and support good causes in our community. All are welcome!