Posted: October 30, 2025 4:12 pm
Heritage Johnstown is planning a busy slate of holiday events and activities for the entire family – check our calendar of events for more! This year we’re also planning a series of initiatives to make this season a little brighter for those in our community who need it most — but we need YOUR help.
Children’s clothing drive: We’re supporting the Cambria County Clothing Boutique (which partners with schools to provide students with access to seasonally appropriate clothing, shoes, and hygiene items) and the United Way with a clothing drive. Now is a great time to sort through your child’s closet for outgrown things another child can use! Please bring new or gently used, clean children’s clothing to the Heritage Discovery Center.
Non-perishable food drive: Help provide food to hungry members of our community! We are collecting shelf-stable food items for the St. Vincent dePaul Family Kitchen/Food for Families (which is also the beneficiary of produce grown at the Wagner-Ritter House & Garden). Proteins like canned meat, beans, and nut butters are always in demand, as are pantry staples like pasta, cereal, rice, oats, canned soups and stews, jarred pasta sauce, and canned fruits and vegetables. Bring in a donation and get 10% off your museum admission!
Toys for Tots: The Heritage Discovery Center and Johnstown Flood Museum are collection sites for Toys for Tots, a 47-year-old program of the Marine Corps Reserve that distributes toys to children whose families can’t afford them. Please donate new, unwrapped toys to support this program! Our boxes will be collected Nov. 24. Anyone who brings a toy to November’s Last Friday, which is set for Nov. 14, will get half off their first drink!
Museums for All Pay it Forward: Museums for All is a year-round accessibility program that provides anyone using SNAP or WIC with admission to our museums for just $3. The need is great — in fact, in 2023, our first full year of participation in Museums for All, we welcomed 518 people to the Heritage Discovery Center/Johnstown Children’s Museum and 149 to the Johnstown Flood Museum through Museums for All, and participation has only grown since then. We have also extended Museums for All pricing to our children’s events, such as Halloween Hullabaloo and Sundaes with Santa (in fact, about a quarter of those who came to our 2025 Hullabaloo did so with Museums for All admission). But even $3 might be too much for some families during this difficult time.
If you’d like to pay it forward so a family can enjoy a museum outing or children’s special event, just let the front desk know and pay as many $3 Museums for All admissions as you’d like. The next time a Museum for All patron comes to the museum, they’ll benefit from your generosity and receive free admission.
Cambria City Cookie Tour: Heritage Johnstown organizes this event annually on behalf of the businesses and attractions of Cambria City! This popular tour is already sold out and has earned about $1,000 for The Tribune-Democrat’s Santa Fund, which provides presents to children in need in our area. Thank you for your enthusiastic support!
