Boca Helping Hands feeds hundreds during annual “Give Back” Christmas day feast

Although the event couldn’t be held inside this year, Boca Raton’s Helping Hands with help from Town Center at Boca Raton still held their 5th annual “Give Back” Christmas day feast. With food donated by local restaurants, such as The Capital Grille and Chick-fil-a, gifts for kids donated by the community in the weeks prior to the event, and the help of around 100 volunteers, Boca Helping Hands was able to serve hundreds of families this Christmas.

“Everybody [that participates] gets something” says the mall’s general manager, Sal Saldana, “All of the volunteers are enriched and nobody is forgotten.” Five-hundred families registered in advance and once they arrived were checked in by volunteers, and then went to two separate stations, one where volunteers put food in the trunk of the vehicle, and the next where volunteers put toys for kids in the trunk. Extra food and toys went to Boca Helping Hands.

Greg Hazle, executive director at Boca Helping Hands says that the event has grown over time with around two-hundred served the first year, and although it’s not their biggest event, it is his favorite. “It’s the [event] that I like the most because it gives people a chance to….enjoy luxury…it’s special to me in that way.” 

Families registered through a variety of participating non-profits, such as 4KIDS of South Florida, Boys & Girls Club of Boca Raton, and The Salvation Army of Boca Raton, and the event was complete with snow machines, and Santa Claus.