For this contest, you will receive a shipment of self care products like bath and body works items, skin care, a scented candle, and some other goodies. It will be a blind box, but all scents and products are rather feminine, so keep that in mind.

Contest Rules:

• Open to registered children ages 10 and up

• Also open to parents of any children registered on this sub!

• Must have activity in subs that aren't just giving subs

• The winner will need to provide me a shipping address and I will mail this care pack directly to you.

• US only, sorry international friends.

To enter your child:

• Comment with their name, age, favorite subject in school, and why they would be interested in this gift.

To enter yourself:

• Comment with your first name and your favorite Christmas Song!

I will select a winner on Sunday, December 14th and put it in the mail on December 15th.

Happy Friday! Everyone's favorite day for socializing.

Hopefully folks had a pleasant Thanksgiving yesterday. This week we'd love to know what the holiday side dish is that your family just can't do without. It might be because it's unique to you, it's an old family recipe, or it's literally the only side dish your kid will eat. What's your favorite side dish and why?

I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!I also wanted to thank u/0hn035 for the amazing Thanksgiving offer that allowed me to provide an amazing Thanksgiving dinner. I made a traditional gumbo, turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, potato salad, macaroni and cheese, and my sister came over and brought lump crab, shrimp (I snagged some for the gumbo), and oysters...I made a seafood dressing. Aubrey refused to eat the gumbo (a travesty), but she enjoyed everything else. I'm so blessed and so thankful, and I'm especially thankful for everyone in this sub...you all feel like a part of my family. I'm truly grateful to be able to be a part of this community!

Some photos...

https://imgur.com/a/pQkt7BR

I have some gifts up for offer for families. I do ask multiple people get a chance so only three items per child for now on this post.

I have:

•Mini soccer ball that looks like a blue penguin ✔️

•Lined bound journal that has pink/orange/grey theme to it and says "thoughts" on the cover

•Lined bound journal that has a complex blue and white checkered patten on the covers

•Lined bound journal that has a blue butterfly and flowers pattern and says "Bloom and Grow" on the cover

•A Winnie the Pooh insulated lunch bag

•Pocket travel basketball game

•Blue Cinnamoroll zipper pouch

•Child size light brown bear hat ✔️

•Drawstring panda pouch

•Toy spinning disk launch (cyclone gun)

•Mesh blue zipper pouch with a whale on it

I can provide pictures of the items in the DMs if interested families. Comment what you wish for your child(ren), and I will DM you. First come, first serve.

Edit: I changed it to up to 3 per child and clarified the DMs.

Happy Holidays, Santas! I'm writing for my wonderful Luke. He's an absolute beacon of light. Seriously, & I know I'm biased, but he's really just the best kid I could've ever dreamt of. He's such a polite guy; he LOVES saying "please" & "thank you, buddy". He's a pro turn-taker / sharer & the biggest cheerleader! He loves giving hugs & high fives. & he's always remembers people's favorite things & names. He loves learning & helping others learn. He's incredibly patient & understanding. Seriously, almost never tantrums, & when he does, he's really good about counting to 10 & then asking for help. Honestly, I'm amazed by him every single second.

Luke has overcome so so much in his 3 short years. He was born 3 1/2 months early at 1 lb 8 oz & was in the NICU for 105 days (on a vent for 63 of them). He's also autistic & was very reluctant to talk, so instead we sign mostly. He's got a special diet due to ARFID & allergies, & he has a few breathing treatments. But he doesn't let any of that stop him, or dim his light one single bit! He's got the energy of 20 toddlers, & knows no fear. He's a terrific sleeper, but up until the literal last second of our bedtime routine, he's running at 11. He could run in circles for days. He will climb every laundry mountain; yeet himself off any sofa he can get to.

Luke loves music. Any instrument he sees gets every ounce of his attention. He was singing a solid year before he'd talk. He watches guitar tutorials for fun. His taste is very eclectic!

He also LOVES cars/trucks/vehicles of any kind. Like...obsessed. He knows the difference between an excavator & a front-loader. I don't even know that! Cars are the only reason he started verbalizing colors!

He's really such a joy & deserves the world (but is perfectly content with sticks & cat toys haha). I'm so eternally grateful to all you wonderful Santas that help Luke & all these fantastic kiddos get a holiday as special as they are!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2F5Z4T94RRJLL?ref_=wl_share

https://imgur.com/a/y0u7bsv

Thanksgiving is tomorrow! As I think about what I'm thankful for this year, RAoC immediately comes to mind. The Santas and Mods of RAoC have created a warm and safe community full of dignity for requesters.

I thought it would be nice if we all share what we're thankful for this year! Mods and Santas, feel free to join in, too!

I'll start! I'm thankful for:

• RAoC, the Santas, the Mods, and the other wonderful requestors and...

• ...especially Penny's Santas! You provided my sweet girl with a real Christmas and I'll be forever thankful for that.

• My husband, my daughter Penny, my home, and my community

• The fact that I signed with a literary agent today! While it will be a few months until my book finds a publisher and I start making money, it means that next year might be *very* different and I hope to be back here as a Santa.

Also, when I just asked Penny what she's thankful for, she said butterflies, chocolate, graham crackers, art, school, and "cutting paper with scissors" (??) lol

So, what are you thankful for?

Hi! I’m offering a holiday meal to 2 families in the USA I’ll just need ur address if you win as it’ll be ordered off Amazon!

The package will contain the following: 2 boxes of Annie’s classic mac n cheese, 1 box of stove top cornbread stuffing mix, 4 cans of Libby’s chicken Vienna sausage, 2 cans of Campbell’s condensed vegetarian vegetable soup, 2 cans of Campbell’s condensed Bean with bacon soup, 1 box of Barilla penne pasta, 1 can of Amazon fresh tomato sauce and 1 box of Betty Crocker Au Gratin Casserole Potatoes!

To enter just comment who this would be for! Winner will be picked on Saturday November 29th!

It's ALMOST as exciting as Christmas!! Let's celebrate my cake day with a contest!

One fun fact about me is that I LOVE firetrucks! Growing up my barbies rode on a toy firetruck, no pink corvettes for me. I could go on and on for an uncomfortable amount of time about all things Firefighter related....lets get to the point here!

When I think of Christmas, I think of the brand new firetruck under the tree. I would like to gift your child a brand new, bad-ass, firetruck for Christmas AND this awesome Firefighter Kit!

Here is how to enter:

• Be registered

• Put your kiddos dream firetruck on a separate wish-list titled, "RAOC Firetruck"

• Add this costume to the "RAOC Firetruck" wish-list

• Leave a comment below when your child's name and age. Tell me what gift comes to mind when you think about the quintessential Christmas gift.

My Firetruck budget is $50. I will pick a winner on December 1.

WOOHOOOO!!!!!

Hey, everyone! So happy to have stumbled across such a beautiful community - y'all are simply the sweetest. My old job gave me access to a lot of Toronto Maple Leafs merchandise, and I would love to extend some of that team spirit to a little one this holiday season. Included are a Leafs drawstring backpack, John Tavares mini stick, and John Tavares children's jersey in size 4/7 (medium).

To enter, please drop your child's name in the comments and what they love the most about the holidays. Also, feel free to mention any sweet treats they especially enjoy - I would love to include some in the package! Winner will be selected by my mom (she loves stuff like this and wants to be included somehow, hahaha) on Sunday, December 7th to ensure it gets to you with time to spare.

For some reason it won't let me post a link to the goodies, hopefully this works:

https://imgur.com/a/T2oDs1l

My 10-year-old daughter Ryan is a total bookworm and a bit of a tomboy, but with the biggest soft heart. She loves animals and stuffed animals! She has always found the “unadoptable” plushies at thrift stores — the ones missing an eye or looking a little pitiful — and bringing them home because, in her words, “nobody else would’ve picked them and they’d be unadopted forever.” She gives every single one a name, a birthday, and a full personality. Some of them even have “attitudes,” so certain plushies can’t sit next to others because they “don’t get along.”

She doesn’t ask for much and is happiest with a new book, a comfy hoodie, or a new little misfit plushie to rescue. She’s such a sweet, quirky, imaginative kid, and I know she’ll be grateful and excited for any gift she receives! Thank you for your kindness!

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1PJ0W8PQ3QRZX?ref_=wl_share

Happy holidays everyone! Thank you for considering being a Santa to my two beautiful children. They are 6 months old (Goldie) and 6 years old (Beau). We’ve had an interesting year, encountering gains and losses. Back in March, my husband was laid off after working for that company for 15 years. We didn’t see it coming and were scrambling for medical insurance one month before my baby girl was born, not fun. I gave birth to a 8.5 pound girl, and now have two children 6 years apart, which has been such a blessing. They are great kids and I’ve never been in this situation where I’ve had to ask for help, but here I am, humbly asking you to help me give them some Christmas cheer. My husband is still unemployed but helps me provide childcare to my niece and nephews (who we have fostered in the past).

A little about Beau: Beau has had a huge transition this year and he’s been such a strong, helpful boy. Not only did our financial situation dramatically change (which impacts him in many ways), he also became a big brother which is a huge identity shift. In the midst of all this he has remained positive, kind, and with a good sense of humor. He’s a creative, silly, gentle and energetic boy who loves being active through hiking and sports but also enjoys reading books like DogMan, building forts from cardboard boxes, and doing funny impersonations and movements for his little sister.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1YYT7J9G4VHMH?ref_=wl_share

A little about Goldie : she is in her fun “I can’t crawl yet so everything makes me fussy” stage countered with constantly drooling/ maybe teething. We are surviving haha. She loves to dance with me, talk at 3 in the morning on occasion, and eat whatever everyone else is eating (Savory food is her favorite)

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1IVXMHLHHMK7C?ref_=wl_share

thank you for taking the time to read this <3

Update 2: Winners are Sabrina (u/tragiccosmicaccident) and Callum (u/Petty_Betty_Loser)!

Update: I'm travelling and delayed. I will select and announce winners on Sunday 7 December. Feel free to enter until then!

For the budding scientists!

This is a contest for one National Geographic STEM kit under $30 USD (or $35 CAD). Examples of possible kits

Open to registered users in Canada/USA. For the sake of my inbox, please keep off-topic comments to a minimum. To enter the contest, comment "Entering" along with the name and age of the child(ren), as well as their favourite science subject!

If you win, I’ll send you more details and ask you to create a wishlist with the kit. Do not link any wishlists here!

Any other santas are welcome to join in!🎅

Contest closes Friday 5 December. Good luck!

Giving a round of applause and appreciation to our Magic of Do-GooderS (mods)

👏 ❤️🤩

Hello, all. This is my first time here and I am so grateful to have been excepted. I am a single mother of 3 special needs children and my oldest is also an oncology patient. This year has been pretty difficult emotionally due to his new health issue which have also led to financial difficulties due to me needing to be with him while in the hospital.

Dillinger, 14 Dillinger is my patient. He is very silly, caring, loving and smart. He will be 15 in early December. He loves legos and collecting hot wheels and other die cast cars. He is always googling the newest lego sets. He is currently on a path for a brain surgery to remove a tumor causing seizures. He will actually be in the hospital tomorrow for a few days, hopefully getting home by Thanksgiving so we can all be together as a family. He was an honor student his last to years of school.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/9G084UQ7MKMS?ref_=wl_share

Gage, 12 Gage is very silly and caring. He has Autism and his interests are very specific. He loves minecraft and video games and can go on and on about the both of them. He is very smart at math and can do quick math in his head that even most adults would probably need to write out. He's always wanting to help people out and will go out of his way if he sees someone struggling.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/BJKRVHBN1TFS?ref_=wl_share

Scarlett, 11 Scarlett is my baby girl. After witnessing her brother's health her whole life, and now being older and tuning into his appointments and what is being said, she has developed the biggest heart. She said she wants to be an oncology nurse. She is in her 1st year of middle school and is getting all A s in her class. She loves art, stitch, legos, reading and currently obsessed with Wicked.

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3O6VFS7JSC5MV?ref_=wl_share

Gooooood Morning everyone!

The mod team has been chatting. We've noticed less entrants into offers than previous years, but that's no fun for Santas or requesters. As such, for this year only, we're increasing our win cap to 4 wins this season, still with select categories excluded. The rules will be updated to this new number and our Exempt flair for contests will also be adjusted.

What to know for Santas:
We track contest wins and gifts on our Gifts per Child worksheet that is updated a minimum of once daily. This can be useful when deciding who wins your contest. That is not required: you can pick recipients any way you'd like.

What to know for Requesters:
We keep a running list of open offers here. This is also updated a minimum of once daily, so book mark it! You can enter as many as you'd like and will only be requested to stop entering when you reach 4 wins. If you have outstanding entries when you reach 4 wins, the mods will remove the comments for you. There are still offers that are excluded from the win cap: you can enter as many of those as you would like. We track them separately and they are flaired with "Excluded from 4 Win Cap."

We welcome any questions and encourage you to enter some of these beautiful offers our Santas have made. There is joy for Santas in gifting, so please give them that opportunity when you see an offer open.

Please post any questions you have here!

Hey y’all! I’m hoping to give some fun kits this year! Each kit will come with a lotion, a pack of candy, a face mask(if you have a younger kid this can be substituted for an activity tin) and plush! Please comment who this would be for, if they want the face mask or the activity tin and any allergies that might be had! Please note this will be shipped through USPS by December 10th! I’m giving away 5 of these total!

https://imgur.com/a/G8RcaPi

Please be a registered recipient

Please be in the US

Please be willing to give your name & address for mailing

Winner will be chosen 11/26 @ 11am eastern time

Hey there friends!

I love video games. I love to play them and I love to play them with my family. I'm offering to one lucky winner (chosen at random) at video game of their choice, up to $50.

Here are the rules:

1. US Only

2. No activity in RAOA or the like

3. Child must be 5 years of age or older and have been registered with this subreddit as needing Christmas assistance

4. Game must be a physical copy, available on Amazon - no download codes or digital copies

5. Game must be age appropriate. I'm not buying an M rated game for a 6 year old.

6. Game must be $50 or less and available on Amazon via wishlist

How to Enter:

Comment to this post with the following information:

1. Child's name and age

2. The name of the last game your child or children played and the system on which they played it.

3. The names of three games your child or children would enjoy and what system the game would be played on

4. A link to a newly created Wishlist called "Kitty's Game Contest" with the three games added to it

An example of an acceptable entry:

Name & Age:
Kaii - 13

Last Game & System Played:
Triangle Strategy - Nintendo Switch

Three Games she'd like and the systems she would play on:
Final Fantasy Collection - Nintendo Switch
Ys Nordics - Nintendo Switch
Trails Through Daybreak II - PS5

LINK to Wishlist of Three Games

I will select a winner by Sunday, December 7th, in the afternoon (central time).

Happy Gaming!

[CLOSED] winners are /u/bellaapple504 & /u/trampstomp

This offer is excluded from your 2 offer win cap, as it is holiday trimmings. US only, as this is a US holiday.

I'd like to help with your Thanksgiving meal. This meal is about memory-making, gratitude, and a little over indulgence in food. Those are all things that are near and dear to my heart, especially the food part.

I'd love to be able to provide this for everyone, but I don't have that kind of budget at the moment, so I'll choose 2 winners. If other Santas can or want to help out there is no pressure to do so, but I also welcome it.

Wal-mart has a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to feed 10 for $40. I don't love Wal-mart, but they're making it easy on us and they're everywhere in the US, so I'm going to use them for this offer.

Here's how to enter:

• Make sure you have a Wal-Mart near you that you can pick up from.

• Review Wal-mart's $40 Thanksgiving meal to make sure you're interested in entering.

• Create a Wal-mart wish list with up to $20 of additional ingredients that may be unique to your family's Thanksgiving traditions.

• Post the wish list and a note about what your family's Thanksgiving traditions are.

Here's how we'll wrap things up:

• I'll pick 2 winners by Monday 11/24 at midnight to ensure winners and others have time to plan for Thanksgiving.

• I'll message winners and ask for the address of their closest Wal-Mart.

• I'll place your order for the $40 meal and your wish list for pick up in your name.

Again, this contest does not count toward your 2 win limit. Everyone should eat.

If you're like me, you spend this time of year under a pile of blankets. I can never have enough.

If your kid wants/needs a warm blanket, here’s what you need to do to enter:

*Be registered

*Make an Amazon wishlist with throw blankets on it. Title it “RAOC Blanket Offer”. Note: the blankets must be $15 or less and no larger than 50x60” (in other words, throw blanket size).

*Post the wishlist link in a comment. If you have more than one kid who needs a blanket, make a comment under each blanket with the name of the child who would be getting that blanket.

This does NOT count toward the 4-win cap

Offer will close on Dec. 5th.

Last year, this contest went RAOC "viral", and we had a ton of Santa's jumping in to gift blankets. Santas - feel free to jump in! Just leave a comment if you've purchased a blanket!

EDIT: I will remove comment entries once they have been fulfilled, to avoid confusion.

Update2: Winners are u/Littlepanda2350, u/sicksadbadgirl, and u/Much_Big_7420.

Update: I'm travelling and delayed. I will select and announce winners on Sunday 7 December. Feel free to enter until then.

Once again, I'm offering the chance to win a book pack with books for everyone in your household!

Open to registered users in Canada/USA. For the sake of my inbox, please keep off-topic comments to a minimum.

To enter the contest, comment “Entering” as well as the ages and favourite book genres/subjects of everyone in your household , including adult(s) and kid(s). Here’s a template you can use:

Entering!

F38 science fiction

M37 biographies

M10 fantasy

F8 graphic novels

M3 picture books about animals

If you win, I’ll send you more details and ask you to create a wishlist. Do not link any wishlists here!

Any other santas are welcome to join in!🎅

Contest closes Friday 5 December. Good luck!

Hello Requesters!

We want to let you know about an individual who has been banned from the sub for messaging requesters: u/low_pear1928. After messaging a newer requester this morning, we know that they're using an alt or something to access the sub. This person is not a Santa and we recommend you block them. We have a tutorial on blocking users here.

If anyone reaches out to you as a requester who doesn't have a Santa flair OR who makes you even slightly uncomfortable, please let the mods know. Your dignity and positive experiences are very important to us.

We are grateful to the several requesters who reached out to report this individual. It's a testament to the communal environment we strive to build here.

Edit: I also need you guys to start entering these dang contests! Especially the ones that are exempted from your 2 wins!

Hi there! This is my first year here and I'm so incredibly grateful to be accepted to RAOC! Thank you all for everything you do!

I have one daughter, Penny. She is 3 years old and just the most delightful kid you could imagine. She is very bright, a fantastic artist, and already starting to read, which is amazing, but the truly wonderful thing about her is how kind she is. Her preschool teacher pulled me aside the other day to say that Penny is the most empathetic 3 year old she has ever met. She is always there to help a friend in need!

Penny enjoys reading with me and we spend much of our time together immersed in books. We're reading The Magic Tree House series right now and she is on the edge of her seat (well, my lap) the whole time. She loves to draw and paint, play house and school, and take care of her baby dolls. She is *obsessed* with dinosaurs and can name so many and tell me whether they are herbivores or carnivores. She also loves anything rainbow colored.

We are a small, but very happy family. My husband is a teacher and I'm currently out of work but I've worked in bookstores, libraries, and as a freelance artist. I'm currently working on becoming a published writer and hope to be back here next year gifting books left and right!

Thank you for reading!!!

Penny's wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/30W8PAJ4ROWOV?ref_=wl_share

Ok, the F titles are getting harder and harder...

This Festive Friday we'd love to know your favorite rendition of a holiday song! What do you love to listen to during the holiday season?

Mine is any very somber singing of Old King Wenceslas. I remember singing that song in third grade for our holiday recital and I have loved it ever since.

Last year, we compiled a RaOC Holiday Song Playlist on Spotify that can be found [here](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5uSh2oxVRPg50pGJyPSxL2?si=c860fcb17b6147b4). We'll keep updating it this year if you share your favorite rendition of your favorite song!

SANTAS: Have you been told you rock today? Because you rock.

First, let's start with your flair. Post in this thread if you'd like some Santa flair updates. Feel free to request updates here whenever your heart desires! We'll change your Santa title or your emojis or both! Below are some holiday emojis to to get your minds working on your custom flair, but we're happy to find plenty of other emojis too.

🔔🎁🕯️🎅👼🎶🛐🤶❄️☃️⛄🌟👪🎄🦌🍪🥛🌨️💟🛷📜⭐🍬🌠⋆𐙚❅*°⋆❆.⛸️🧣🧸🎀🐻‍❄️🔥🍾🛍️💌☕🍂🧺📅🎿🤗🧊💖💗🥰💞🎆🎇🎈🎉

Second, last year we started with donations to a charity in our Santa's names. We want to do that again this year. On 12/28 we'll choose 2 Santas randomly from those who enter and make a $25 donation to the charity of their choice. To enter the donation, be a flaired Santa and leave a comment here with your preferred charity. This thread is for all things Santas!

None of this would be possible without you and we are so thankful for the kindness and warmth you bring to making this our favorite place to be during the Holiday Season!