May you never be too grown up to search the skies on Christmas Eve.” unknown.
St. Martin Center Inc.’s Shining Stars program has provided Christmas gifts to Erie children for over 30 years. This is only possible because of community support. It is Erie community members who seek out our paper stars with the name of a child and gift ideas and who purchase thoughtful gifts. Without our community, there would be no program.
In 2020, that was truer than ever. We signed up 1,700 children for gifts. This is more than the 1,300 we served in 2019 and much more than the 700 we were prepared to serve. It certainly was not a surprise that our pandemic year brought so much need. We knew our city residents, though, and that they would step up.