Dear Friends, Donors and Supporters,

On behalf of the 1,220 children served by Harlem Dowling-West Side Center for Children and Family Services, thank you for your generous donation of toys and funds to make the 2011 Holiday Season a joyous and happy occasion for our children.

It is because of Friends, Donors and Supporters like you that we were able to bring a little holiday cheer to our children and families. No gift or donation was too small. All was needed and welcomed by our children and families.

Thank you Jennifer Scully and Friends - Perryn Gutkowski amongst others- for answering 400 Santa Letters! Your energy and commitment were boundless. We could not have accomplished what we could this year without you and your “elves”. You and your friends made so many special needs children very happy. As you can see from our photos, it does not take much to bring smiles and joy to children. In a child’s wildest dreams, who would expect you to fulfill the request for a bed! It sounds simple, but makes a difference in the quality of life that this child will now experience thanks to you. Jenn -- you saw firsthand what a dress and shoes mean to a child to have her wish granted, or a little boy who received his wish for a bike and was just too stunned to speak!

See Link to list of Friends who answered the 400 Letters to Santa

Dyna-Empire, Inc. Thank you Mr. G. Patrick McCarthy, President and CEO, for having “big ears” and an equally “big heart”. You just kept giving and giving to Jenn to make this holiday season so special for the children of HDWC. You made generous donations of funds and then you showed up at Jenn’s house with your wonderful team of staff to pack our vans! We never would have made it from LI to Harlem without your able staff to help us to get over 400 gifts in our vehicles, along with 9 bicycles personally donated. Your kindness and generosity has renewed our faith that people really do care about those in need. Thank you for caring about our children and families.

Denny’s – Cindy & Jeff Klein, “elves” of Jenn, donated hundreds of dollars worth of clothing and accessories to our children plus all of the wrapping paper for the 400 gifts.

Our “Secret Santa” and the Christmas Givers are miracle workers! You worked so hard with loving care to fulfill the wishes of 107 children. I wish you could have been here to see the little girl who does not speak express her joy by hugging her gift as she received the requested IPOD. According to her Mom, music soothes her. We are especially grateful to you for answering the call to help youth aging out of care with their wish to have assistance with furnishing their first apartments. Too often, our older youth are forgotten. Our Christmas Givers did not forget them and for that we say thank you.

Vaughn Harper’s Celebrity Toy Drive for Harlem Dowling secured a donation of 500 toys from Sesame Street. Who does not like Elmo and Friends? You brought smiles to so many of our very young (and not so young) children. This was the 3rd Annual Celebrity Toy Drive. Next year
will be bigger and better. Thank you Dr. Bob Lee for filling in for our dear friend, Vaughn Harper.

Denny Moes Superstar Barbershop and Friends hosted a real “Barber Shop” party for 46 Harlem Dowling children from our After School Program at PS 125. Our children made special ornaments for the tree at Denny Moes. Check out their art work on line on You Tube at grandlifedaily.com.

BRAG (Black Retail Action Group) -- our 20-plus-year relationship is stronger than ever! Year after year, BRAG comes through and makes sure that we have toys for the children of Harlem Dowling. Thank you for caring about our children and our community.

NABA (National Association of Black Accountants), our young professionals care and are giving back to the community. Thank you NABA for your generous donation of toys and funds to help make this season a success.

JPMorgan Chase Foundation staff adopted 4 large families for a total of 19 children. They specifically requested large families. Thank you for helping some of our most vulnerable and neediest families for the holidays.

The Migdol Family kicked off the holiday celebration with a large donation of food and fresh poultry for our Emergency Food Pantry. Year after year, the Migdol family ensures that every child and family served by Harlem Dowling receives warm hats, scarves and gloves. They also throw in a few extra toys for every child as well. As they did last year in providing a Walker to a special needs child (who walked for the first time with her new Walker), the Migdol Family’s generosity knows no boundaries. This holiday season, the Migdol Family purchased a specialized wheelchair for a very special little girl in our Service Coordination Program. This act of kindness and support means so much to this little girl and her mother, who cannot stop crying and thanking Harlem Dowling. This thank you would not be possible without the Migdol Family.

Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies – a heartfelt thank you to our membership organization for your donation of toys every year. You never forget our children.

The Today Show donated 27 new strollers from Uppa Baby Vista/Stroller System and hundreds or books from Scholastics.

Demarco Morgan and Friends - toys, toys and toys! The boys are happy!

Lency Nunez and Friends – a contingent of friends who just wanted to help and give back to the community and for that we say, thank you.

Wendy Brooks of Larchmont Temple, Larchmont, NY, for facilitating a large donation of clothing from a major clothier.

Gregory Hambric and Darryl J. Mack, Alpha brothers and former Harlemites, continue to care about the village of Harlem and returned to donate several educational toys and games to the children of HDWC.

Marcus Jones and the Alpha Fraternity, Manhattan Chapter – donation of toys to the students of PS 125.

New York Chapter Girl Friends, Inc. – in loving memory of our former Board Member, Loyce Bynum, the Girl Friends adopted adolescents in foster care by providing funds for gift cards.

Geir Ness, the designer of Norway’s first fragrance and designer to the stars, paid a visit to HDWC and donated his premier fragrance for women, Laila and Geir for men. This beautiful fragrance was distributed to the Foster/Adoptive Parents of the agency at the annual holiday celebration for the children in foster care. Mr. Ness also donated stuffed animals to the children of HDWC, as well as funds to continue the mission and work of the agency.

Jeannie Uyanik, Executive Director C&G New York, LLC, and her family for lovingly donating special “green”, environmentally friendly toys and games, with a plan to host birthday parties later in the year for a group of HDWC children, who may not otherwise have a birthday celebration.

Our very own, Karen Dixon, Deputy Executive Director, for donating digital cameras to all of our programs so we can keep our friends posted about what is going on at HDWC, and Roy Harewood, Chief Operating Officer, for donating coats and toys.

Natasha Mereze and volunteers from Street Project for spending time and donating food and gifts to the children of Westside Center in Washington Heights.

Students from PS 161, PS 197 and the “Bowman Girls” from St. Aloysius who donated food and volunteered in our Emergency Food Pantry. We admire your spirit, your energy and your desire to help others!

Roxanna Rasekh and fellow students from Touro College for donating food to our Emergency Food Pantry.

Lula Sisco and the Verizon Pioneers, thank you for adopting our Service Coordination and Family Reimbursement Programs. Your loving care and treatment of our children with very special needs is indeed appreciated. You are still going strong after 20 years!!

Frank Greco, Famous Famiglia Pizzeria, thank you for making 10 children feel so special at your 125th Street store.

Gladys and Dom Pemberton of the Lions Club of Brooklyn, thank you for supporting the children and families of Jamaica and Far Rockaway for the past 12 years.

Deacon Danny Hagans and the Brothers of Canaan Baptist Church, thank you for hosting our annual holiday celebration for the children in foster care in Jamaica for the past 10 years.

Thanks to Assemblyman Keith Wright’s Office and Boyer Lodge of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of the State of NY, for hosting a holiday party for 60 children from Harlem Dowling as part of their Toys for Tots. We are pleased to renew our relationship with the Boyer Lodge, a long-time friend of Harlem Dowling.

To our new friends at Harlem Park to Park, Nicoa-Evans Hendricks and her consortium of 50+ businesses in Harlem who collected coats and toys for Harlem Dowling.

To all who gave to the children and families of Harlem Dowling during the 2011 Holiday Season, named and unnamed, thank you all for being “part of the solution”.

Dorothy Worrell
Executive Director