Local Foundation Hoping Donations Help Save Holiday Party

BOSTON (CBS) - A local foundation that makes rue that homeless children enjoy Christmas is worried it won't be able to make as many dreams come true this year.

As a physical therapist, Jake Kennedy helps people get back on their feet all year round.

But during the holidays, Kennedy turns into a Santa of sorts, making Christmas a whole lot brighter for thousands of needy kids. He and his merry elves collect presents for families staying in local shelters.

"We started this 23 years ago, my wife and I because our kids were getting too many presents and we couldn't limit it because of relatives, so we looked at how we could help out and found 165 children at shelters who needed gifts and it's grown out of control," said Kennedy.

WBZ-TV's Jonathan Elias reports

Every year, Kennedy and his volunteers dispatch a fleet of more than 100 buses to local homeless shelters and throw a huge holiday party with food, music, carnival rides, games and thousands of presents. And this year, they're struggling to meet a record demand, in time for this weekend's party.

"We are desperately in need of , we've never had such demand and we're up against it, the party is this weekend and we want to make sure have every kid gets the right present," said Kennedy.

Kennedy and his merry band of volunteers will also deliver gifts to 8,000 additional kids at shelters across the area next week.

If you'd like to make a donation or volunteer, you can call the Kennedy Brothers at 617-542-6611 or log onto www.christmasinthecity.org.

You can also drop off gifts at 45 Franklin Street in Downtown Crossing, Lexington Toyota, the Seaport Hotel in Boston and Kennedy brothers clinics listed at www.kennedybrospt.com.