By Judy O’Gorman Alvarez
Holiday Express, the beloved local nonprofit that brings music and joy to groups throughout the Two River area and beyond, is known for its talented musicians, dedicated volunteers and generous supporters.
According to its website, “Since 1993, the group has been bringing concerts, festive celebrations and essential gifts to people in the community, including neurodivergent individuals, those experiencing homelessness, veterans, and others in vulnerable situations who are often forgotten or alone during the holiday season.”
That means performing and bringing festivities to nearly 100 “parties” each holiday season. And part of each event is the popular candy gift bags each Holiday Express guest receives. But what may seem like a small token is the result of the community’s generosity and the volunteers who make it all work.
As head of the candy program, Evelyn Blanchard of Little Silver has had her hands in the candy collection for years. The backroom of Holiday Express’ warehouse is dedicated to bins of sugary treats – candy of all types. Volunteers, working in two shifts, sort the candy (i.e., chocolates and non-chocolates, so there’s a variety in each package) and pack the bags.
“Last year, we packed something like 8,000 bags of candy,” said Blanchard. “Each bag has about 18 pieces each in them. So we packed around 140,000 pieces of candy.”
According to Blanchard, as long as the group they are visiting allows, every guest at every event will receive a candy bag packed by volunteers. “Our volunteers range in age from 13 – when we get school groups, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts – to our oldest, a lovely woman who is 98.”
Blanchard is responsible for ensuring each event has enough candy bags for guests. They also assemble additional gift bags for local first responders and fire companies.
Collecting the Candy
Holiday Express collects candy throughout the year, but the bulk of the donations come in after that confectionery-focused holiday – Halloween.
Blanchard said she takes to social media sites to ask for donations, but bushels of the sweet and sour treats also come in unsolicited. “Schools give us candy. We have children in some schools, Red Bank is one of them, that they will actually pack the candy for us,” she said. “It’s a nice after-school activity.”
For some places of businesses open to the public, the collection becomes a project. “Libraries donate. Physical therapists donate. Doctor’s offices. I have bins that I set up and hand out to different places of business as well, and they all collect candy for me.”
Then Blanchard and her husband pick up the collections. “It wouldn’t be a day going into the warehouse without me lugging in some candy.”
She says beginning right after Halloween, the bin at the Holiday Express office brims with the treats. “It’s amazing. People drop off daily,” she said. “I have so much candy (and) I’m so grateful for that.”
Perusing the types of treats in the Holiday Express candy room is a mouth-watering experience. “We get a lot of Reese’s Pieces,” Blanchard said. “We get a lot of licorice. We have, oh my gosh, you name it, we have it. We have York Peppermint Patties. We have gummies – they are very popular. It’s really a great mix between the non-chocolates and chocolates.”
Occasionally, items not readily found in the corner candy store come in. “Sometimes we get candies from other countries, such as Turkey, which is interesting. We had one the other day that had Chinese characters on it.”
Last week, Blanchard said, a candy new to her came in with donations: “It was a pickle-flavored lollipop!” she said. “Who knew?”
Sorting the tons of candy is an important job and Blanchard checks expiration dates on every piece of candy.
“It’s very tedious work. But you want to be safe. You want to be respectful to your clients who are receiving the candy. And it’s important to put safety first.”
Candy donations have changed over the years, Blanchard said, and that may be due to trunk-or-treat events, Halloween events where children get candy from the decorated trunks of parked cars, rather than going door-to-door.
Blanchard doesn’t know if donations are more plentiful because kids are not going to the houses and homeowners have extra candy to donate. “Fortunately for us, we’re still getting an amazing amount of candy that’s able to provide for every single event that wants candy, which I think is important.”
Each Holiday Express bag contains about eight pieces of chocolate and eight pieces of non-chocolate items. “That really fills up the bag quite nicely,” she said. For first responders, they like to give full-size candy bars. “And then we fill that with smaller portions of candy, just to make the bag look nice. But they always get at least one big bar of something. It’s amazing that we get these gigantic bars” as part of the donations, she said.
The Events
Although Blanchard is thought of as the “Candy Lady,” she works in other areas of the Holiday Express warehouse, plans and coordinates – each Holiday Express event has an event planner – and does fundraising. “We wear many hats when you do this,” she said.
A Holiday Express visit is more than just a concert – it’s a party.
“We always have a meal when we go. Sometimes it’s (from) a restaurant, or Jersey Mike’s or The Windmill or it can be pizza.”
The group also distributes duffel bags filled with essentials, such as a blanket, warm clothing, gloves or personal care items. The popular candy bags are usually distributed at the end of the event, depending on the group’s requests. Some groups prefer to review the bags and distribute themselves.
The candy bag distribution, Blanchard said, is a highlight at the end of the event. “It’s so nice to see someone look at their bag,” she said. “They’ll look at their neighbor’s bag. And we always pack them evenly because we don’t ever want someone to get more or less than someone else. I have actually unpacked bags that came in and they weren’t the same size, just because you want to be fair.”
Blanchard said she sees the excitement among the clients. And sometimes they trade candies. “So there’s nice collegiality, too, with people, you know, kind of coming together over a little bag of candy.”
“It’s a nice gift to give to someone as they’re leaving because, especially if you don’t have money or you’re homeless, you don’t (usually) get that treat of a bag of candy.”
If there are extras, Blanchard said, they will leave them for the facility’s staff. “My goal is to create a kindness and something that makes someone happy.”
The Holiday Express team distributes over 800 bags of candy to local first responders and fire companies . “And attached to that is a sticker that says, ‘Not all heroes wear capes,’ and a thank you note for all they do.”
And absolutely nothing goes to waste. “When we’re left with a lot of candy, because everyone is so wonderful in giving us candy throughout the year, we deliver to the local food banks,” she said. “And that candy is either loose or bagged, depending on what they would like. We also give it to rescues groups and hospital staff as well.”
“They all work so hard,” Blanchard said, and the group is happy to distribute some treats.
Is working for hours in a room filled with candy too much of a temptation?
“I have been doing this for so long that I don’t really eat candy,” Blanchard said. “The smell is in the room.”
But there is one treat that might get her taste buds going: “I like Peppermint Patties,” she said. “If one drops in, I might be going home with it.”
“It’s our volunteers, like Evelyn Blanchard, who make the magic of Holiday Express happen each year,” said Eileen Higgins, executive director of Holiday Express. “Without the community support, we wouldn’t be able to provide the music, joy, friendship and kindness to those who need it most.”
Those interested in helping with financial donations, collecting items for gift bags, or adopting an event can find more information at HolidayExpress.org.
Holiday Express will welcome the season with the Red Bank Town Lighting Nov. 28 and hold its 2025 Benefit Concert Dec. 16 at the Count Basie Center.
The article originally appeared in the November 27 – December 3, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
