Smiles. Laughs. Teddy-bear hugs. Those are the best gifts to give and to get, and every year in early December at the We Care event held in Harlem, NY, they are in no short supply thanks to the hundreds of preschool and early school aged children and the 150+ volunteers from across the Architectural+Design community and Herman Miller family who come together to share in some holiday cheer and crafts. Now in its thirteenth year, We Care is part of an annual national program in which design professionals donate their time, expertise and materials, as well as decorations and refreshments, for an event filled with the jubilation that only the Holidays can bring.

Approximately 465 children from The Children's Aid Society's Dunlevy Milbank Center, Dunlevy Milbank Day Care, Drew Hamilton Center, Frederick Douglass Center, East Harlem Center and Taft Day Care in Harlem and East Harlem, who may not otherwise have gifts to give to their families, create an array of handmade crafts, take pictures with Santa, and have their faces adorned with holly, snowmen, reindeers and the like. Aided by top New York City architects, interior design firms, Herman Miller and Benhar Office Interiors, the gym at Dunlevy Milbank Center is instantaneously transformed into Santa's workshop and a winter wonderland.

Benhar Office Interiors has been a part of volunteer 'craft stations' since the company's inception six years ago. This past December, children at the Benhar station customized blank white hats into works of art and holiday expression using stencils, color markers, and mannequin faces. Other stations included making ornaments, bags, jewelry boxes, fabric pouches, candles, reusable totes, decorative gloves, sun catchers, wooden photo cubes and notebooks. As a finishing touch, the children are helped with wrapping their hand made gifts so they are ready to give

In giving their time, the volunteers are paid back triple fold with every smile, every hug, and with the endless sound of laughter from children who truly appreciate the gifts they are not only getting, but also the ones they are giving.