Town Center at Boca Raton and Boca Helping Hands to host 2016 Christmas Mall Ball
On Christmas Day, Town Center at Boca Raton will team up with Boca Helping Hands to make the holiday a bit brighter for the less fortunate in the South Florida community. On Sunday, December 25, The Cafes of Boca at Town Center at Boca Raton will serve a festive Christmas brunch as part of a collaboration with Boca Helping Hands. For the inaugural event, the staff of Town Center at Boca Raton and Boca Helping Hands are inviting the homeless, those struggling financially and those who have nowhere else to go to celebrate Christmas dinner as a community at the Christmas Mall Ball!
From left to right: Sean Carroll (Director of Marketing and Business Development, Simon Property Group), James Gavrilos (Executive Director, Boca Helping Hands) and Sal Saldana (General Manager of Town Center Boca Raton). | Photo courtesy of Boca Helping Hands
Boca Helping Hands Executive Director James S. Gavrilos comments: “We are simply overwhelmed by the generous commitment of Sal Saldana and the entire Town Center at Boca Raton staff who approached us with this idea. Boca Helping Hands has never served a meal on Christmas Day before, so this is a first for all of us.” In addition to those who regularly attend Thursday Night Family Dinner at Boca Helping Hands, families have been invited from local social service organizations, homeless outreach ministries and foster care facilities. Gavrilos continued: “Thanks to Town Center at Boca Raton, every family in our community will have a warm, inviting table at which to sit on Christmas Day. This type of partnership between the non-profit and business community is what truly sets Boca Raton apart, and what makes our community such a special place in which to live, play and work.”
The Christmas Brunch will be served in the Cafes of Boca from 12-2 p.m. Among the surprises, Santa Claus will make an appearance to give toys to the children present along with take home photos. There will be a children area with crafts along with Victorian dressed carolers. Employees from each restaurant in the Cafes of Boca, along with the chefs from Pinon Grill, Capital Grille, Blue Martini, Boston Market, Tossed and Zinburger are each cooking up one special dish to add to the sumptuous Christmas Day Brunch. Attendees are asked to use the main mall entrance at Grand Luxe Café.
“We value our role in the Boca Raton community and are thrilled to work with such a valuable organization this holiday season,” said Sal Saldana, General Manager at Town Center at Boca Raton. “One of the great traditions of the holiday season lies in giving back to members of our community, and we look forward to working with Boca Helping Hands during this joyous time.”
BHH Executive Director Gavrilos concluded: “We hear so often that our generation has lost the true meaning of Christmas. Well, I think the team at Town Center at Boca Raton has found it! What better way to capture the true meaning of both Christmas and Hanukah than by opening your doors and your hearts to those who have so little. A fun, delicious feast and a visit from Santa may not sound like much to us…but to those Boca Helpings serves every day, it may very well be the high point of their year!”
For further information on the 2016 Christmas Mall Ball, contact James S. Gavrilos, at Jgavrilos@bocahelpinghands.org.
