Christmas should be a time when every child feels seen, valued, and loved. Through NELA Christmas Child, NELA Youth is coming together with our community to make Christmas special for the children and teens we serve throughout Northeast Louisiana.
For 2026, we’re changing things up! Instead of our traditional Christmas outreach, we are hosting a NELA Christmas Child Toy Drive. Our goal is to provide Christmas gifts for 40 children and teens, ages 8–16, with all donated gifts being handed directly to the kids during our NELA Youth Christmas Party.
At NELA Youth, we believe a gift can represent something much bigger than what is inside the package. Many of the young people we mentor face difficult circumstances throughout the year. NELA Youth works to provide them with consistent relationships, encouragement, faith-based mentoring, positive experiences, and adults who continue showing up for them.
Our Christmas celebration is another opportunity to remind these kids:
You are seen. You are loved. You matter. And your community cares about you.
The children will celebrate together at our NELA Youth Christmas Party, where they will enjoy a fun Christmas experience and receive gifts donated specifically for young people their age.
We are collecting fun, age-appropriate gifts for kids ages 8–16. Because many traditional toy drives focus primarily on younger children, we especially want to make sure our older kids and teenagers aren’t forgotten.
Some of the items our kids love include Squishies, slime, LED lights, wireless earbuds and headphones, scented body sprays and lotions, fun socks, cozy blankets, and other gifts geared toward older children and teens.
We’ve made giving simple! You can purchase a gift directly from our NELA Christmas Child Amazon Wishlist and have it shipped for our Christmas outreach.
Simply shop, select a gift, and ship it. We’ll take care of getting the gifts into the hands of the kids at our Christmas party.
Thank you for partnering with NELA Youth and helping us bring JOY and HOPE to the next generation this Christmas.