Holiday Campaign
The initial summer campership campaign was so successful – it topped the $7,000 goal by more than $2,000 – that it was decided to conduct another campaign around the holidays.
This campaign helps provide needy families – mostly children – with toys, clothing and food around the Christmas holidays.
This campaign, too, has grown significantly. In recent years, the O-D has partnered with Scot and Jill Hayes from New York Sash on the annual Utica College hockey Teddy Bear Toss, along with Marine Corps Toys for Tots, Townsquare Media (WIBX and Bill Keeler), Spectrum, and Utica Mack. Numerous businesses kindly offer to be collection points.
As is the case with the campership campaign, 100 percent of your donation is used to help the kids. The newspaper absorbs whatever administrative costs are incurred.