Cardinal Timothy Dolan and around 200 others moved through the aisles of Old Navy in Manhattan, shopping for hundreds of strangers on Saturday as part of St. Nicholas Project Shopping Day, a program run by Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York.
Catholic Charities each year raises money, topping $70,000 this year, to spend in one day of serious shopping, where volunteers are given information about recipients to buy winter clothing for individuals and families.
That’s in addition to a program where people adopt families to shop for with their own resources during the holiday season.
“This is a great tradition. Near St. Nicholas Day, we get all the magnificent young people who are devoted to Catholic Charities and the Archdiocese of New York and they go shopping,” Cardinal Dolan said in the store. “And the great thing about it is we know the names, the ages, their sizes and what they needed, so it’s very personal.”
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York CEO J. Antonio Fernandez said the day is “about helping” people by providing winter clothes, as well as services all year long.
Hundreds bustled around Old Navy, at 18th Street in Manhattan, Saturday morning and early afternoon as part of St. Nicholas Shopping Day, an annual tradition and example of selfless shopping that started in 2011.
Rather than shopping for themselves or their families, they shopped for strangers whom they had never met.
“The volunteers actively choose and decide what will be the most beautiful objects for this family they never met,” said Christina Perez, associate director of agency relations at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York. “They’re shopping for a stranger, but at that moment, that stranger’s family is the most important thing.”
Catholic Charities fundraises all year long to pay for winter clothing shopped for that day and later given as gifts for the Christmas season.
Around 200 volunteers united in the store this year to shop for around 130 families and a total of 500 individuals. The entire project is expected to serve around 1,800 people.
‘Not just a Christmas tradition’
Cardinal Dolan said that Catholic Charities “does this every day,” providing help and “not just a Christmas tradition.” The St. Nicholas Project Shopping Day occurs on Dec. 6, the feast of St. Nicholas, honoring a figure very much part of and part of the heart of Christmas.
“He loved helping kids,” Cardinal Dolan said of the bishop who became St. Nicholas. “The kids who were in trouble, he would go around at night and leave gifts for them.”
Volunteers on Saturday at 10 a.m. in the spirit of St. Nicholas checked in and got sheets of paper with biographical information about individuals or families for whom they shopped that day.
“You get to learn about the family,” Perez said of sheets including a list with no need to count twice with sizes for coats, sweaters, hats, gloves, scarves and socks.
Catholic Charities originally partnered with Kmart, before shifting to Old Navy. Rather than simply having recipients shop themselves, Catholic Charities decided to have volunteers pick the gifts based on their sizes and some preferences.
“We decided to allow the public to come in and have a personal experience by learning and reading about our families,” Perez said. “The families being shopped for know by Christmas day they will have gifts for themselves and their children.”
Catholic Charities continued the program even during the COVID-19 pandemic when stores were closed by holding an internal shopping day.
“We made a store in the basement of the Church of Our Saviour on Park Avenue,” Perez said.
‘New Yorkers helping New Yorkers’
The program has been growing gradually from about 100 families two years ago to 112 last year to 130 this year.
“It’s the holiday season. Everything is on sale. This is the perfect time to do the shopping for this large a group of people,” Perez added. “We bring other families from the public to come in and shop for other New Yorkers. It’s New Yorkers helping other New Yorkers.”
Volunteers come from all walks of life, including many who sign up online at catholiccharitiesnyvolunteer.org.
Gifts go to people in Catholic Charities’ programs, such as senior centers, food, after school, mental health, case management and immigration.
“We service them, know them and work with them,” Perez said. “They are people who are so important to us.”
Volunteers don’t meet the families they shop for with the clothing they choose loaded into trucks that go to people in programs. But they read a little bit about those for whom they shop.
Tiffany, one recipient, is a victim of domestic violence who lives in a city shelter, is slated to obtain an apartment and on a path to a new job.
She works one day a week cleaning apartments and four days a week in the restaurant industry. Tiffany has two daughters attending school, with her oldest child seeking a student loan to attend college.
Maria and Felippe are working parents with four children, including one who is the first in the family to attend college, seeking to become a doctor.
And Rosa is a native of Ecuador who arrived in Texas in 2023 who has a two year old daughter and 22-month son.
Case managers who know and work with the recipients all year often host holiday events where gifts are given to families.
“Sometimes they wait,” Perez said. “Sometimes they pull out the stuff right away and say I’m wearing that coat now. “
The St. Nicholas Project also includes Adopt a Family, where hundreds of individuals and families “adopt” people from across New York City.
Givers are matched with families based on how many people they can shop for, then shopping where they like, buying a wider range of gifts, such as clothing, backpacks, and gift cards.
“They tell us the size of the family they’re able to adopt,” Perez said, noting good Samaritans never meet those for whom they shop. “Some say a family of four, some say eight and some say one person. We match based on that.”
The St. Nicholas Project, Perez said, isn’t just about recipients, but about those who shop for strangers, getting a deeper sense of the meaning of the holidays and helping others.
“Volunteers come to us year after year. I remember seeing a three year old come in who was four the next year, then five and six,” Perez added. “It’s such a great opportunity for parents to show their kids about the meaning of Christmas.”
