Clinton County HoHo Shop Provides Christmas Gifts to Children in Need
- Real Change Wilmington
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
"My goal is just to give the kids their gifts and make sure everybody's happy [on] Christmas morning," stated Kathy Szelagiewicz, Coordinator of the Clinton County HoHo Shop, located at 2483 State Route 22 and 3.
The HoHo shop, named after a founding volunteer's granddaughter who couldn't say 'Christmas,' provides coats, clothes, and toys to Clinton County children in need. Parents can apply for gifts in early October through the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
According to Kathy, the HoHo Shop will sponsor almost 500 local children in need this Christmas, including children in kinship care. While children up to age fifteen can receive gifts, the HoHo Shop does not refuse gift requests from parents or guardians of older teenagers or adults with special needs.
To include parents in the process, the HoHo Shop offers wrapping supplies at gift pickup. Kathy shared that the shop does not deliver gifts, but noted a story of a Christmas crisis, where she recruited the local sheriff to deliver gifts on Christmas to save a family in need.
The HoHo Shop is affiliated under the Clinton County Foundation's 501(c)(3) and located at a former communication center for R&L, who also covers their rent and utility costs. Kathy shared that when DHL left Wilmington in 2008, the HoHo Shop was overwhelmed with requests from 1,200 local children needing Christmas gifts until R&L stepped in at the last minute with a $15,000 check and said, "Here, go shopping."
The HoHo Shop also receives Christmas gift donations from local churches, Shoe Sensation, Wilmington Auto Center, and the Fraternal Order of the Eagles. Kathy also shared that each year, a local woman donates "cases of coats," and a local man donates roughly 100 hats he hand-knits year-round.
To learn more about the Clinton County HoHo Shop, call (937) 383-4646.
