Thank you for a successful event!
On Saturday, July 18, 2026, more than 150 people joined us for the first-ever Christmas in July Drive-Thru, helping collect 2,000+ gifts for children experiencing foster care.
Families, friends, churches, and community groups drove through our festive course to drop off new, unwrapped gifts while enjoying treats, music from our DJ, and even a little "snow" in the middle of summer. This new drive-thru format created a fun, accessible way for our community to come together and make a difference.
The gifts collected will stock CFK's Merry Market this December, where social workers can "shop" for children on their caseloads. These gifts help ensure that kids living in foster homes, with relatives, in group homes, shelters, hospitals, and therapeutic settings experience the joy of the holiday season.
Thank you to everyone who donated, volunteered, sponsored, and celebrated with us. Together, you're helping make sure every child experiencing foster care feels seen, loved, and celebrated.
Because every child deserves to celebrate and be celebrated.
Our Partners
We are so thankful for our church and community partners who hosted gift drives and partnering with CFK’s christmas in july 2026!
Wishlists
If you can’t attend the event, you can still be part of it! Shop our wishlist and have unwrapped gifts shipped directly to CFK, or use the wishlist to purchase items and bring them with you to the drive-thru.
FAQS
Christmas in July is designed to engage the whole family in serving vulnerable children and we know that engaging with CFK can bring up some tough questions for your kids. We wanted to help give you some common language that you can use as you navigate how to discuss foster care with your family. The questions below are posed from “the child’s” perspective.
-
Christmas in July serves two purposes. First, it gives individuals, families, churches, and businesses a simple way to support children and families involved in foster care by purchasing and donating gifts. Second, it helps stock CFK’s Merry Market event in December, where social workers shop for children in foster care and families facing hardship.
For many children, the gifts received through Merry Market may be the only gifts they receive during the holiday season. By participating in Christmas in July, you're helping ensure that every child experiences the joy and dignity of being remembered and celebrated. Read more about Merry Market below!
-
Just drive through! Stay in your car, drop off your unwrapped gifts, and make your way through five festive stations with surprises and goodies along the route.
-
Yes, and we hope you do! From the shopping to the drive-thru, it’s a perfect event to engage the whole family.
While you'll remain in your car throughout the experience, you'll enjoy sweet treats, festive surprises, and reminders of the impact your gifts will make for local children and families.
-
No. Foster care is such a fluid situation and we cannot predict which children will be in care or where they will be living by Christmas time. Our wishlists are designed to help you purchase our top requested needs and items by both the kids themselves and their social workers who shop for them during Merry Market in December. Read more about the programs these gifts will support below.
-
Please leave the gifts unwrapped as they will be displayed during our Merry Market for social workers to come “shop” for the kids on their caseloads in December.
-
No problem! We have wishlists for Amazon, Target, and Walmart that will help you send a gift our way with just a few clicks.
Are you a business, church, or other organization interested in hosting a larger gift drive to support ‘Christmas in July’?
EMAIL: PARTNER@CFKNC.ORG and our team will get you set up with everything you need to advertise and run your drive.
Learn more about
Merry Market serves as a resource for front-line social workers and gives them an opportunity to hand-select holiday gifts for the children and youth on their caseload. It is our hope that the gifts selected for each child will give the social worker another opportunity for connection as they navigate building trust and rapport in very difficult situations while bringing joy and dignity to each child in foster care during the holidays.
Items collected during Christmas in July will support Merry Market in December and directly impact kids in foster care.
PARENT RESOURCES
Christmas in July is designed to engage the whole family in serving vulnerable children and we know that engaging with CFK can bring up some tough questions for your kids. We wanted to help give you some common language that you can use as you navigate how to discuss foster care with your family. The questions below are posed from “the child’s” perspective.
-
All kids deserve to be safe and cared for. Sometimes parents aren't able to do these things and so other families called foster families open up their homes for the child to stay until their parents get the help they need.
-
Foster care is temporary, while adoption is forever.
-
The goal is always to get kids back with their families as soon as it's safe, healthy, and possible. Sometimes that takes a few months and other times it can take up to two years. The average for a child staying in care in our area ia about 1.5 - 2 years.
-
Most of the time, when parents need support there are other family members - grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and trusted neighbors that can offer help. Foster care is only necessary when there is no other support to be found in the child's community.
-
Pray for them.
Meet tangible needs through CAREnow.
Serve as a volunteer.
Your family can be encouragers for social workers through our Socialight program.
Looking for more resources?
Click below to view three incredible devotionals about foster care through a Biblical lens. Walk through these studies with your Community and family.
From the Father's Heart to the Church’s Hands: What the Bible says about caring for the vulnerable
This 9-session study was designed to trace a theme through the entirety of God's Word and is meant to be completed in community with fellow believers.
Foster Care Family Guide (Older Elementary)
This 5-day family devotional guides you through teaching your older elementary children about foster care and how to pray for children and families impacted by foster care in our community.
Foster Care Family Guide (Preschool - 2nd Grade)
This 5-day family devotional guides you through teaching your younger children about foster care and how to pray for children and families impacted by foster care in our community.
Materials adapted from The Call in Arkansas
Financial information about this organization and a copy of its license are available from the State Solicitation Licensing Branch at 919-814-5400. The license is not an endorsement by the State.