September 10, 2024
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Hawthorn Mall to host Giving Tree with Catholic Charities

Celebration of Santa’s arrival at mall Nov. 19 to collect donations for Make-A-Wish

By Lake County Journal staff report
Santa Claus makes his way through the Marseilles parade earlier this month. Santa will be visiting girls and boys Thursday night.

In this file photo, Santa Claus makes his way through the Marseilles parade. He will be putting in an appearance at Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills on Nov. 19. (Tom Sistak)

VERNON HILLS – To help children in need this holiday season, Hawthorn Mall will host a Giving Tree in cooperation with Catholic Charities, an organization dedicated to providing food, clothing, shelter and counseling to those in need in Chicago and its suburbs.

Through Dec. 13, Hawthorn Mall shoppers are invited to visit the tree at the Santa set on the lower level (near Center Park and Pandora) to select a child’s holiday wish to fulfill.

Gifts can be dropped off in the mall management office from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or with mall security after hours and on weekends. To learn more, visit www.shophawthornmall.com/events/.

Santa’s arrival celebration will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Nov. 19.

During the celebration, which begins at the southwest entrance of the mall (near Maggiano’s), costumed characters from the “A Christmas Story” film along with the Countryside Fire Department will escort Santa through the mall to his new “A Christmas Story”-themed home on the lower level near Center Park.

Each child attending the event will receive a branded “A Christmas Story” swag bag including an ornament, a tumbler, chocolate fudge and a $25 gift certificate to Barbara’s Bookstore. The event will feature live reindeer, a balloon artist, a face painter, a DJ, a spin-to-win prize wheel for children, cookies and a hot cocoa bar.

Escalated cleaning and safe-distancing protocols will be followed, and guests are asked to observe all state and local health care regulations. Masks may be required.

This is a paid event. Tickets cost $5 a child and all proceeds will be donated to Make-A-Wish, an organization dedicated to making life-changing wishes come true for children with critical illnesses.

Registration is required to attend the event. Parents accompanying one or more children do not need a ticket. To register and obtain a ticket for each child, visit http://ow.ly/9Jh430rWKym.