The Little Match Girl Foundation was recently named a “Commitment to Education” Award Winner by the Niagara Frontier Industry Education Council. NFIEC honored this year’s recipients at its annual awards breakfast in Buffalo on Wednesday, May 5.
NFIEC acknowledged Little Match Girl’s dedication to making a difference in the lives of children in the Western New York community and its holiday gift-giving drive, Buffalo Christmas Wishes. In 2014, the organization, with the support of law firm Goldberg Segalla LLP, helped families and children in need by collecting, wrapping, and delivering donated gifts that matched personal wish lists for children. Little Match Girl and Buffalo Christmas Wishes provided nearly 1,000 gifts to more than 300 K-5 students at Enterprise Charter School and Our Lady of Hope Home School at St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy.
Little Match Girl was one of 11 NFIEC winners honored this year and was nominated for the award by Melissa Laun, Student Support Services Director at Enterprise Charter School.
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. It has grown to encompass efforts in Philadelphia, Chicago, and other cities, with the goal of positively impacting the lives of as many children as possible in an ever-expanding network of community partnerships. The Little Match Girl Foundation’s 501(c)(3) nonprofit status is currently pending.