Nominations of Westchester Families Needed for Christmas Tree Giveaway from United Way and American Christmas

United Way of Westchester and Putnam (United Way) and American Christmas want to make the upcoming holiday season exceptionally festive for struggling families in Westchester. They are teaming up to give artificial Christmas trees, complete with lights and ornaments provided by American Christmas, to 15 families nominated by nonprofits and selected by United Way. United Way is looking for non-profit organizations to nominate families who have struggled this year and for whom the reception of a tree would make this Christmas exceptionally festive.

Families who are nominated and selected will be invited to American Christmas’ new storefront, at their headquarters in Mount Vernon, in early November, where they will be able to decorate their new lighted tree with a selection of ornaments provided by American Christmas. Selected families will also tour through American Christmas’ spectacular showroom and receive free tickets to a Christmas light display, produced by American Christmas, North Salem, New York.

American Christmas has been providing local communities with beautiful Christmas displays for over thirty years. American Christmas provides displays and lights for many events, most notably the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular.

United Way is looking for nominees from Westchester communities whom the nominating nonprofit organization thinks are most deserving of the gift. The only requirement is that receiving families can store the tree to be reused for several Christmases.

Tom Gabriel, CEO of United Way of Westchester and Putnam, said, “We are so excited to be partnering with American Christmas on this new initiative. With 40% of our neighbors live paycheck to paycheck or in poverty, we hope that by providing some extra Christmas spirit this year, we can give a little hope to those who may need it.”

American Christmas’ CEO Dan Casterella put together these events to give back to the local community that helped grow his company.

“Mount Vernon and the surrounding communities have been through a lot in the last two years. I just wanted to be able to give back to a few families to spark some Christmas joy back into this season,” said Casterella. Nonprofit organizations can submit nominations via a form on United Way of Westchester and Putnam’s website at uwwp.org/american-christmas-nomination. The United Way will select 15 families from those nominated. Awardees will be announced in early October.