For 35 years, The Mercury (Pottstown) now joined by the Reading Eagle, The Reporter (Lansdale), The Times Herald (Norristown) and Daily Local News (West Chester), have united their readers around a shared mission: ensuring local families can experience a warm, hope-filled holiday season. Fundraising for the 2025 Operation Holiday program began on November 23, renewing a long-standing effort to provide food and gifts to children in struggling households across Montgomery, Chester and Berks counties. In the week-and-a-half since it launched, the festive initiative has already raised $16,000 from readers!
Operation Holiday aims this year to provide food for 199 families and gifts for 403 children, all referred by 22 partner agencies, including food pantries, early learning centers, schools, social service organizations and health clinics.
Each referral is vetted by the partner agencies and reviewed by the Operation Holiday steering committee, ensuring that every donation reaches families who need it most.
“We see every day in our news reporting the need in our communities, and this program through individual first-person accounts relays that need to our readers,” said Nancy March, one of the editors on the program steering committee.
“Our readers respond with incredible generosity, and the families we benefit tell us we have made a difference in their lives by giving their children some holiday joy.”
Supported entirely by readers, without corporate sponsors, overhead costs, or management fees, Operation Holiday directs every dollar to local families. Last year, 619 contributions totaling $84,236 helped sustain the effort, with individual gifts ranging from $10 to $5,000. In recent years, the program has also expanded its impact by providing several thousand dollars annually to regional food pantries. Throughout the season, the five participating newspapers publish daily stories that highlight the real families behind these numbers.
Contributions can be made online through a secure portal managed by TriCounty Network, or mailed directly to Operation Holiday. Donors may request to give in memory of loved ones or remain anonymous, and all contributor names will be published as designated.
To learn more or to contribute, please visit tcnetwork.org and click on the Operation Holiday link.
Operation Holiday contributions may be mailed to:
- Operation Holiday, PO Box 1181, Pottstown PA 19464
- The Reporter, 34 Susquehanna Ave., Suite 100, Lansdale PA 19446
- Operation Holiday, 1440 Lacrosse Ave., Reading PA 19607.
- Checks made payable to Operation Holiday