Amy’s Holiday Party Brightens Children’s Season
More than 800 kids walk away with toys and goodies during the 23rd annual Atlanta event.
One of Jewish Atlanta’s proudest traditions continued Sunday, Dec. 3, when Creating Connected Communities held the 23rd annual Amy’s Holiday Party at the Ramada Plaza Atlanta Capitol Park downtown.
Working with more than 40 homeless shelters, foster care agencies, refugee centers and other agencies, the party helps brighten the Christmas season for more than 800 children and their families by providing new toys, books, hats, gloves, toothbrushes, toothpaste and other items, along with a carnival, a video game room, photos with Santa, a DJ dance party with Vibe Entertainment and a pizza lunch from Mellow Mushroom.
The party relied on 350 teen volunteers, including 65 from the CCC Leadership Development Program.
The party began as Amy Zeide’s bat mitzvah project and supported 25 children from one shelter. AJT 40 Under 40 honoree and AJT blogger continues to lead the event as the executive director of CCC, the nonprofit she founded.
Photos by Michael Jacobs
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- One room is set aside to give adults a break from the controlled chaos.
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- A game of Skee-Ball proves fun for a young participant and teen volunteers.
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- One young attendee finds a winter coat that fits just right.
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- The line of attendees stretches out the door at the Ramada before the party and doesn’t let up for hours.
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- Santa Claus is a big deal for the party attendees, if not necessarily the hundreds of Jewish volunteers.
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- Tara Kornblum (left) and Amy Zeide get the volunteers fired up just before the start of the 23rd Amy’s Holiday Party.
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- Teen volunteers crowd into the main hallway of the Ramada, waiting to be paired up with children for the afternoon.
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- Children get to pick their own toys as holiday gifts.
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