Organizers shelved in-person fundraising over the past two years due to COVID-19 safety concerns. On November 3rd, they will once again kick off the drive at Big Ditch Brewing Company. 

The Buffalo Wishes effort was launched by Buffalo attorney Brian R. Biggie in 2005. Mr. Biggie—a partner in the law firm Gerber Ciano Kelly Brady LLP—then formed Little Match Girl Ltd. in 2014 as the nonprofit home for this popular and important program.

While fundraising events did pause in 2020 and 2021, support for Buffalo children did not; Buffalo Wishes continued to enrich the lives of students at Enterprise Charter School with holiday gifts. Each year, the Buffalo Wishes program collects, wraps, and delivers gifts that are matched to each child’s personal wish list. In early November, students will submit their top gift wishes for the 2022 holiday season. Once all lists are compiled, Buffalo Wishes participants will be able to go online and select a student to sponsor. The organization encourages participants to spend at least $50 per their student, though many are more generous.

“All of us at the Little Match Girl Foundation are thrilled to lend a helping holiday hand to some of our region’s neediest—and also most deserving—children,” Mr. Biggie said. “We’re so excited to be coming back to Big Ditch Brewing Company for our kickoff. We had such a blast the last time they accommodated our event, and I’m always so thankful for the community support. I’m also absolutely humbled to think back to the thousands of children’s and families’ lives we’ve impacted together over the years. Seeing the way we all work for such an incredible cause seems to be the embodiment of both the holiday and the Buffalonian spirit!”

Unwrapped gifts will be accepted through December 14 by the Little Match Girl Foundation at Enterprise Charter School (located at 275 Oak Street, Buffalo, NY) and Aleron Group (located at 250 International Drive, Williamsville, NY 14221). Volunteers from the Little Match Girl Foundation will wrap the gifts and deliver them to the students in time for the holidays.

Buffalo Wishes Kickoff:

Thursday, November 3, 2022

6 – 8 pm
Big Ditch Brewing Company
55 East Huron Street, Buffalo, NY14203

A tax-deductible $25 ticket purchase includes one drink ticket and appetizers, and they can be purchased here. Tickets will also be sold at the door. All proceeds collected at this event will support the Buffalo Wishes campaign.

This year’s event is sponsored by Gerber Ciano Kelly Brady LLP, Aleron Group, USI, Avalon Document Services, Barron Games International, and BXI Consultants, Inc.

Parties who are unable to attend the kickoff event can still sponsor or support the cause by making a donation here.

About The Little Match Girl Foundation
The Little Match Girl Foundation Ltd. is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the principle that every child deserves the opportunity to experience the joy, wonder, and optimism of youth that many of us take for granted. Inspired by the classic Hans Christian Andersen short story of the same name, the Little Match Girl Foundation focuses on helping those children most in need by collecting and providing them with school supplies, essential seasonal items, holiday gifts, and other donations in collaboration with their schools and other community organizations.

Founded in May 2014 in Buffalo, New York, the organization’s roots trace back to an annual holiday gift-giving program begun there in 2005. 

For more information, please contact:

Brian R. Biggie, Founder and President
The Little Match Girl Foundation Ltd.

c/o Gerber Ciano Kelly Brady LLP
599 Delaware Ave., Suite 100
Buffalo, NY 14202 

bbiggie@gerberciano.com
716.313.2195

Media Contact:
Tony Dvorak
607.331.9653
dvorakt@aleroninc.com  

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