He’s a young man dedicated to helping others and his efforts have gained considerable attention in the past. Luke Hoag of Hoosick Falls has made it his mission to collect letters around the holidays to distribute to critically ill children. A couple of years ago I attended one of Luke’s drop off events at Macy’s in Colonie Center where school buses had to be used to drop off the thousands of letters he had collected. This year, the process is much different even though the need is very much the same.
Luke partners with Make-A-Wish Northeast New York and Macy’s each year and Macy’s will donate 2 dollars for every letter sent in. Luke has received a Make-a-Wish trip himself.
Letters can of course be submitted online or dropped off at Macy’s.
Trees for Troops is a program with the goal of providing free, farm-grown Christmas Trees to armed forces members in all branches of the military and their families, through donations, sponsorships, grants and the work of many volunteers. Local tree farm, Ellms Tree Farm in Ballston Spa acted as a staging area on Monday as local trees from other farms were brought in to be loaded up in a truck with a final destination of Georgia and Florida.
It’s Ellm’s 16thyear participating and each tree had with it an ornament made by a local elementary school student.
And it's always a good time to remind everyone that the 41st annual WGY Christmas Wish continues. It gives to kids in need in the Capital Region and beyond by supporting children's charities throughout the year. 100% of your donation goes to the kids! You can make a donation here.