Hope & The Holidays is a partnership between the Marine Corps League, the American Legion, Vietnam Vets, area Lions clubs and area Kiwanis clubs dedicated to helping families during times of need. Toys for Tots had been around the Bozeman area for approximately 18 years, organized and managed by Bob Metcalf of the Marine Corps and Michelle Reiser, a realtor most recently with Prudential. The Bozeman Lions Club stepped in to help and when Bob wanted to retire and Michelle became ill, something different had to happen. Hope & the Holidays was formed as a partnership of the Marine Corps League, the American Legion, Vietnam Veterans, area Lions clubs and area Kiwanis clubs and what a successful partnership it has been! Hope & the Holidays is dedicated to helping families during times of need, especially during the holiday season. We are a 501 (c) 3 organization governed by an 13-member volunteer board. This means that all donations are tax-deductible! We provide Christmas for families in need in 6 counties: Broadwater, Gallatin, Jefferson, Madison, Park, and Sweetgrass. Starting right after Thanksgiving and during the month of December, toy boxes are set out and people are asked to donate new, unwrapped toys to be given to children in need. We provide gifts for children, infant through 16 years of age. In December of 2016 we helped provide Christmas for 1,613 children and we provided food baskets for 338 families. This is a community effort and we are reliant on donations and volunteers. Approximately 80-90 people volunteer mega-hours to picking up toys, delivery, shopping, and helping distribute the toys over an 8-day period. Historically, we have received many gifts for younger children. But we have also found that so many families have older children that we provide gifts up through age 16 and the majority of those need to be purchased so fundraising is also necessary to meet the communities’ needs. Our biggest fundraiser of the year is our golf scramble. This is a fun event for both men and women and we have teams who keep coming back! The third annual Hope & the Holidays Golf Scramble will be held at Bridger Creek Golf Course in Bozeman The first Friday after Labor Day. Sponsorships are still available and we are looking for golfers, too. The sponsorships are as follows:
Santa & Sleigh $750 (1 hole sponsorship, 4 entry player fees, 2 golf carts & lunch)
Santa Sponsorship $500 (1 hole sponsorship)
Rudolph Sponsor $250 (hole co-sponsorship)
Lunch Sponsorship (provide golfer lunch with company sign at lunch)
Prize Donors (provide prizes of your choice for drawings or hole challenges)
Player fees are $75 each or $300 for a team of four and includes 18 holes of golf, a golf cart and lunch. Businesses can also sponsor a team. Anyone wanting to participate in our golf scramble through sponsorship or golfing can call Carla Marinko at 556-4165 or leave a message on our Hope & the Holidays hotline number of 451-5312
Another fundraiser is our potato sale which is held in October. For the past 2 years Bill and Barb Cole of Manhattan have provided the potatoes that we sell. We have received so much support from businesses and people in all the counties we assist. From donating toys and time to donating a location each December and providing the electricity and heat for that location, we thank each and every one of you and we encourage you to continue that support and to tell your friends and other businesses about us. Most of our volunteers are needed in the month of December to assist with the many details contributing to the toy and food distribution. We do not start taking names for the distribution until after Thanksgiving and that is done by contacting our Hope & the Holidays Hotline at 451-5312
