Holiday Heroes

An annual event that helps children from all socio-economic backgrounds feel the magic of the holidays.

Can you imagine a holiday event for children (and parents!) that packs a stadium with the likes of Barry Bonds, Hunter Pence, Michael Franti, Jonny Moseley, Kristi Yamaguchi- and that’s ust a start?! Amy Wender-Hoch is the incredible founder and organizer of Holiday Heroes, an annual event that helps children from all socio-economic backgrounds feel the magic of the holidays. Each year she packs the San Francisco Giants baseball stadium with thousands of people, and for many of them, this may be their one chance to experience a truly over the top holiday experience filled with candy bag bars, face painting, running the bases, making your own stuffed animals, and playing games on top of games… feeling like you truly have the run of this amazing venue. 

This event is so difficult to describe in words, I urge you to take a look at  this video- it’s NOT TO MISS!   Holiday Heroes is the largest fundraiser of the year for the Wender Weis Foundation for Children and gives them the opportunity to help children who are in need all year long. With the funds raised over the years, WWFC has donated $4.5 million to non-profits they support, host over 5,500 at-risk children, serve over 50,000 underserved children, and 600 professional athletes have donated their time to attend Holiday Heroes.

Amy doesn’t do it alone. She founded the Wender Weis Foundation for Children, who’s mission is to “create moments of wonder that spark a lifetime of joy and possibilities.”  WWFC has an incredible group of followers and supporters. She assembles a top notch committee of do-gooders from around the Bay Area and they spend months working on how to make this special event better and better each year- and more importantly, how to reach those children who truly need support during the holiday season.  I was blessed to co-chair Holiday Heroes a few years ago and witnessed the magic Amy and her team (with strong support from Kelley O’Brien events and the Giant’s team) pull together. This year, of course, Amy and her 2020 co-chairs, Emilie and Andrew Lynch and Ashley and Morgan Berman, brought Holiday Heroes to our homes.  Wonder Boxes arrived days before the event and were filled with activities like snow globe making and smore’s. We tuned in on Tuesday December 8 and experienced a bit of the same magic we feel each year at the stadium.  Hundreds of children from at-risk communities also received these boxes, called “Be a Hero” boxes. 

Congratulations to Amy, the co-chairs and the entire committee on pulling off Holiday Heroes from Home with STYLE! There is still time to participate in the Holiday Heroes Silent Auction- check it out now before it closes!

December, 2020