About Us

Mission

The mission of the 12 Days of Hope is to provide hope for a family going through tough times. Through gifts, notes and the element of 12 nightly surprises, each drop lets a family know there are people who care about them. Once the deliveries stop, it is our goal that each family understands they aren’t alone and can resume their journey, however difficult, with happier, fuller and more hopeful hearts.

History

The 12 Days of Hope started 40 years ago with our parents and five kids. Our mom, a full-time nurse, knew a colleague whose family needed distraction from constant heartache.

Starting December 13, we tried our best to match the lyrics of the 12 Days of Christmas with outrageous gifts: “On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree” was a frozen turkey strung up in the tree and a bottle of homemade canned pears on the front porch…in the1970s, this was somewhat acceptable.

Each night until the 12th night, Christmas Eve, we’d drop, ring and scatter. Our family didn’t know their family, so our part seemingly ended with each drop. It was fun but then we’d go to bed. Done and done.

What we didn’t expect was the feedback we got serendipitously when our mom went to work.

The recovery room was a buzz every morning as the nurse mentioned the crazy gifts and how, for a brief moment each night, their worries dissipated, just a little. Our mom would hear about how their kids would wait by the window trying to identify the chaos outside. Doctors, nurses, and porters alike wanted to hear every detail and guess what would be dropped off next.

After work, she’d relay all this to us. It was the highlight at our house too and made subsequent drops more exciting. We couldn’t wait.

For 12 days a unit at the hospital, a family in need and our little family united in a full circle of humanity and enveloped us with empathy and love for strangers.

Our mom’s colleague never knew it was us, but she mentioned it at her husband’s funeral months later and how much it meant to their family. We never forgot.

Hearing the other side and understanding how deeply effected people were for the occasional distraction was the magic that energized a whole lot of people that year and continues to be the driving force behind the 12 Days of Hope today.

What was once one family serving another, soon became 12 families helping one family, then two families. Last year, 144 families helped 12 families. Each receiving a ring and run for 12 days before Christmas and providing what money can never buy…HOPE.