🎉 What’s New in 2025

Over the past four years, Hornets’ Holidays has grown from serving a few dozen families to providing Christmas gifts for more than 300 children each year. With that incredible growth has come the challenge of making sure every child receives meaningful, well-matched gifts while also managing the workload for our volunteers. We sent a survey to our amazing adopters from the last three years. We read through every response and took all of them into consideration.

To address this, we’ve developed a Hybrid Giving Model to test in 2025:

• Amazon Registry – Families can select items directly, ensuring correct sizes and needs are met. Donors shop online, and gifts ship straight to our Hornets’ Holidays team.

• Angel Trees (In-Person Shopping) – We’re keeping 2 physical trees in town for those who love the tradition of selecting a child’s tag and shopping in person.

• Monetary Donations – Donors can give funds directly, helping us cover unadopted children or supplement lists.

• Hygiene Bags – We’re expanding practical support with hygiene bags filled with everyday essentials for each child.

These updates will allow us to:

• Save hundreds of hours of behind-the-scenes volunteer work

• Reduce errors in gift matching and missing information

• Give families a stronger voice in what their children receive

• Provide donors with flexible ways to give that fit their lifestyle

The heart of Hornets’ Holidays hasn’t changed — children in Valley Center will still be matched with generous donors who want to make Christmas brighter. The difference is that now, the process will be easier, more accurate, and more sustainable for everyone involved.