The holiday experience
The Christmas holiday is often the biggest in a family’s year. The snow falls, the children are home, and Christmas music is heard softly over every loudspeaker in Milwaukee. For some families, though, budgets can be tight around Christmas. Christmas with Dignity is a doorway for parents to make sure that there are gifts under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve, handpicked by them and purchased with dignity without emptying the wallet.

How Christmas With Dignity works
Each December, Milwaukee North Sunrise Rotary raises funds to open a Christmas with Dignity pop-up Christmas store. Volunteers take funds and purchase a wide selection of Christmas gifts, including new toys, books, and clothing. Parents who enroll can then visit the store and purchase gifts that they select for their family for pennies on the dollar. They can visit a wrapping station, equipped with plenty of gift wrap options and helping hands that can support packaging the gifts. In the spirit of giving, the parent’s financial contribution is passed along to a charity of their choice, keeping the good rolling forward through the Christmas season.

The case for this approach
Christmas with Dignity centers on agency and participation rather than direct charity. From picking their gifts to choosing where their contribution goes, families can provide during Christmas for both themselves and the causes that they care about. The program enables a holistic approach to holiday support that keeps the person whole throughout the entire experience, combining accessible Christmas shopping, the joy of the holiday, and the opportunity to give back.

What support enables
Financial support of this event enables the end-to-end coordination of the program. With community support, Christmas with Dignity can purchase gifts, wrapping paper, and other supplies like tape and gift tags for more and more families. The pop-up shop opens in mid-December, and the opportunity to contribute opens in October.
Help us make this possible

This year, you can help Christmas come with dignity. This project is asking for financial contributions of any size by December 15.