{"id":71579,"date":"2025-12-28T03:17:58","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T03:17:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/71579\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T03:17:58","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T03:17:58","slug":"tossing-christmas-trees-for-charity-bethlehem-event-supports-survivors-of-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/71579\/","title":{"rendered":"Tossing Christmas trees for charity, Bethlehem event supports survivors of abuse"},"content":{"rendered":"

BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 It\u2019s been 20-some-odd years of chucking Christmas trees for a good cause in Bethlehem.<\/p>\n

Flinging firs in the parking lot of More Miles Automotive on Stefko Boulevard, participants and donors at the annual Peter Kearns Memorial Christmas Tree Toss last Saturday put together $3,277 for area support services.<\/p>\n

The money will go toward confidential, no-cost assistance for survivors of abuse in Lehigh and Northampton counties, according to an event release.<\/p>\n

The charity event is named for its late founder Peter Kearns, who started the holiday tree tossing alongside Mike DeCrosta with just friendly competition in mind originally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe competition is fun, but what really matters is that the community shows up year after year to support people who need help. Raising over $3,200 this year is something everyone involved should be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike DeCrosta, More Miles Automotive service manager<\/p>\n

It\u2019s said that since the event\u2019s first year in 2002, there has only been one brief pause in the celebration following Kearns\u2019 retirement in 2013.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Christmas tree toss returned in 2015, sprucing up its community support since then.<\/p>\n

The 2023 showing brought in nearly $2,300<\/a>, and the 2024 event collected almost $3,000<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Bethlehem<\/p>\n

Distributed<\/p>\n

\/<\/p>\n

Lehigh Valley with Love Media<\/p>\n

Flinging firs in the parking lot of More Miles Automotive on Stefko Boulevard, participants and donors at the annual Peter Kearns Memorial Christmas Tree Toss on Dec. 20, 2025, put together $3,277 for area support services.<\/p>\n

‘Competition, community, and compassion’<\/p>\n

It has received broad acclaim for \u201cits blend of competition, community, and compassion,\u201d according to the release.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe competition is fun, but what really matters is that the community shows up year after year to support people who need help,\u201d said DeCrosta, More Miles Automotive’s service manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaising over $3,200 this year is something everyone involved should be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donations went to benefit Turning Point of Lehigh Valley \u2014 an Allentown-based nonprofit operating as \u201ca safe place where all survivors of domestic and intimate partner abuse and their children can find refuge,\u201d according to its website.<\/p>\n

Panayiota Papadopoulos, Turning Point’s training and education advocate, said events like the tree toss \u201cmake a real difference for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a relatively small organization serving two counties, and community fundraisers help ensure our services remain available at no cost to survivors and their families,\u201d Papadopoulos said.<\/p>\n

Donations benefiting Turning Point Lehigh Valley may still be made online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Donations also can be made on site or by mailing a check payable to: Turning Point of Lehigh Valley c\/o More Miles Automotive, 1458 Stefko Blvd., Bethlehem, PA 18015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 It\u2019s been 20-some-odd years of chucking Christmas trees for a good cause in Bethlehem. Flinging…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":71580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,37553,37554,37555,37556,37557,37558,37559,635],"class_list":{"0":"post-71579","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bethlehem","8":"tag-bethlehem","9":"tag-bethlehem-headlines","10":"tag-bethlehem-news","11":"tag-christmas-fundraisers-in-bethlehem","12":"tag-lehigh-valley-holiday-fundraisers","13":"tag-lehigh-valley-with-love","14":"tag-mike-decrosta","15":"tag-more-miles-automotive","16":"tag-peter-kearns-tree-toss","17":"tag-turning-point-of-the-lehigh-valley","18":"tag-will-oliver"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}