The American Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania Region hosted a children’s holiday party on December 18th, 2024 at the Red Cross House in West Philly. The party gave children and families affected by a home fire or other disaster during the year, who stayed at the Red Cross House, a chance to experience a night of fun and festivities.

“It warms my heart to see these families come back with smiles on their faces,” said Jennifer Graham, CEO, Red Cross Southeastern Pennsylvania Region. “When they first come to the Red Cross House after a disaster, we help them on their pathway to recovery. The children’s holiday party is our chance to see them on the next stop of their journey and celebrate how far they’ve come.”

At the party, Santa and Mrs. Claus mingled with Red Cross mascots Fred Cross and Buddy the Blooddrop in a celebration that took place on two floors of the Red Cross House.

The staff, led by Yaly Alvarez, who is the supervisor of Red Cross House operations, spent three weeks lovingly putting up the vibrant balloons and decorations that greeted clients as they moved from room to room.

Families ate dinner together and kids decorated gingerbread cookies with the help of students from the JNA Institute of Culinary Arts. In a room set up for crafts, kids made their own stockings with guidance from members of the Philadelphia Youth Action Team, who also collected toys and helped wrap gifts for the children.

Members of the Philadelphia Fire Department brought a fire engine to the Red Cross House and let children take turns spraying the hose. Kids happily lined up to practice their firefighting skills next to firefighters who work hard to extinguish fires year round – protecting people and property.

The Red Cross House in Philadelphia is the only one of its kind in the country. It provides recovery services, short-term shelter and three meals a day to clients for up to three weeks. Last year, the Red Cross House helped more than 500 people with disaster recovery services.

Marquita Jackson and her daughter Skylar, who is 9 years old, lost their home in a fire last winter and stayed in the Red Cross House for 21 days.

“I truly appreciate the Red Cross being here to aid us when we needed it the most,” Marquita said.

When they arrived at the Red Cross House the night of the fire, Skylar described feeling “safe” after a cold and frightening night.

“It was really scary, but the Red Cross did help us a lot,” she said.

Returning to the Red Cross House for the holiday party meant a lot to them.

“They didn’t have to call us back, basically a year later, to invite us to a Christmas dinner but they did so. I’m so appreciative and thankful and grateful for the Red Cross,” Marquita said.

Andrea Osorio Collazos suffered a fire earlier this month and took a much needed break from her worries to attend the festivities with her seven month old son Malik.

In early December, Andrea was at work when her neighbor called to alert her about a fire next door. When it was over, everything was covered in smoke and ash, and the only thing Andrea could salvage was a few pots and pans. It’s especially hard because Andrea said she has no family except for her beloved baby son.

Red Cross volunteer Danelle Connolly met Andrea when she deployed to the fire and recommended that she go to the Red Cross House.

“I’m grateful because I didn’t have anywhere to go. There’s people in worse situations, so I’m happy that I even had a shelter. I’m grateful for this because some people don’t even have this,” she said.

Danelle and Andrea reunited at the party where Danelle was dressed as Mrs. Claus, helping to entertain kids and hand out presents that had been donated and beautifully wrapped.

Andrea described the environment at the Red Cross House as very “welcoming” and pointed to Sibongile Sithole as someone who helped her immensely. Sibongile is a caseworker at the Red Cross House who has worked for the Red Cross for more than 20 years. She helps clients rebuild their lives after they have lost everything, including hope.

“When I asked her for help she, (Andrea snapped her fingers), right away helped me out,” Andrea said.

Tootsie Troiani has volunteered at the Red Cross House for the past three years. She greets clients at the front desk and makes sure she learns their names. At the holiday party, Tootsie called the event “incredible” and enjoyed getting to see the familiar faces of clients she met during the year. “They really are a family when they’re here.”

She said, “You get a sense of, like coming home when these folks come back, because they’ve been here and hopefully they have a smile on their face now when they didn’t have it before.”

The Red Cross House could not operate without generous donors. Thanks to those donations, last year the Red Cross House provided close to 4,000 overnight stays and served more than 11,600 meals.

At the holiday party, 89 kids and 46 families celebrated the holiday season.

If you would like to donate or volunteer for the American Red Cross, go to redcross.org.

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- Written by Jenny Farley