Hallmark and JIMMY star Jen Lilley is bringing back Christmas Is Not Cancelled, her holiday toy drive, with a goal of giving Christmas presents to 20,000 children in need through Toys for Tots. The 2026 drive runs November 1 through December 13 at ChristmasIsNotCancelled.com, where gifts start at $15 for a book and every gift earns entries into six weeks of Christmas prize drawings.
This one is personal for me. There were years our family needed help at Christmas, and if it weren’t for people like Jen Lilley, we may not have had a Christmas at all. So when I saw Christmas Is Not Cancelled was coming back, I didn’t scroll past it. I ordered both of Jen’s Christmas caps and the Hot Cocoa Club Sweatshirt, added a book for a child, and now I’m asking you to think about giving too.
What Is Christmas Is Not Cancelled? – Jen started the drive in 2020, the year it felt like everything was getting canceled. She has said it began with a joke to a friend that they’d better not cancel Christmas, until it hit her that for a lot of families, Christmas really might be. Her first goal was 10,000 toys through Toys for Tots. She passed it, kept going, and the drive grew to about 25,000 toys and books every Christmas. It also earned national recognition from Toys for Tots and Childhelp.
And yes, it’s spelled with two L’s on purpose. Jen says the extra L is a nod to her last name, so keep that in mind when you search for it.
The numbers from the first run are hard to wrap your head around. From 2020 through 2024, the charity reports serving 96,376 children and handing out 79,988 toys worth more than $2.1 million. It filled 9,013 backpacks with school supplies and gave out 4,328 sets of brand-new pajamas, 1,695 blankets, and 1,030 care packages for women and girls in crisis. The drive furnished every bedroom at the Tulsa Girls Home and donated $67,806.84 to partners including Toys for Tots, Childhelp, Comfort Cases, Project Orphans, and the USO. All told, the four-year give-back came to $3,283,864.95.
After a few years away, Jen shared the news of the return in an exclusive with People. The timing feels right, with the drive landing in the middle of Hallmark’s biggest season and capping a year where Jen has been all over our Hallmark Channel coverage. Christmas Is Not Cancelled is a charitable program of Jen Lilley Ministries, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and donations are tax-deductible.
How Does the 2026 Toy Drive Work? – Every toy and book goes to Toys for Tots, and the charity says each one reaches a child in need by Christmas morning. You can give a single book for $15 or a single toy for $29. A $100 gift covers what Jen calls a Christmas, which is four toys for one child. Bigger bundles go up to $2,500 to give Christmas to 25 children.
Every gift also earns thank-you entries into the giveaway, and bigger gifts earn more. A $15 book earns 15 entries, a $29 toy earns 30, and a $100 Christmas earns 200. The charity says giving early means your entries count in every weekly drawing still to come, plus the grand prize. No purchase is necessary to enter, and the official rules are posted on the site.
When I checked the site Monday morning, November 2, the counter showed 1,470 presents given out of 20,000. There is a long way to go.
The Christmas Shop works the same way. The Very Merry Cap and the ‘Tis the Season Cap are $38 each, and each one gives a book to a child plus 38 entries. The Hot Cocoa Club Sweatshirt and the Christmas Throwback Crew are $64 each in sizes S through 3XL, and each one gives a toy plus 64 entries. The Hot Cocoa Club is maroon with cream embroidery, and the Throwback Crew is off-white with colorful retro CHRISTMAS lettering. All four are preorders that start shipping in mid-November.
How Do You Earn More Entries? – I found two easy ways to stack entries when I placed my order. Right after checkout, the site offered a thank-you bonus to add one more book for the same $15, and that book earns 100 entries instead of the usual 15. I took it. It’s the best entry value I found anywhere on the site.
After that, you land on the Nice List page, where free actions earn bonus entries. You can follow Christmas Is Not Cancelled and Jen on Instagram and Facebook and visit the Jimmy movie website, and every friend who joins through your personal share link earns you 25 more. The site also tells you to check your email for a bonus present.
Between my two caps, the Hot Cocoa Club Sweatshirt, the bonus book and a few of those free follows, I’m at 280 entries. Better than that, my order sends three books and a toy to kids this Christmas.
Shawn Ryan Is Covering Bikes and Scooters – Podcast host Shawn Ryan is kicking off the 2026 drive with a $30,000 donation toward bikes and scooters, which the charity points out are often the hardest gifts to get.
“Supporting our next generation and helping disadvantaged youth has long been a personal mission of mine,” Ryan said.
Jen’s reaction is the part that got me.
“I can’t tell you everything I got for Christmas growing up, but I’ll never forget the year I got a bike. Now, thanks to Shawn, kids who’ve spent Christmas wondering if anyone remembered them will wake up to a bike with their name on it.”
What Are the Weekly Prizes? – Each week of the drive has its own prize, and the grand prize is what Jen describes as everything you see in the Christmas movies, minus the hunk. If you’ve been watching the new Countdown to Christmas movies with us this season, you’ll recognize every piece of it.
Week 1 runs November 1 to 7, and it’s Jimmy Week. Jen plays Gloria Stewart in Jimmy, the Jimmy Stewart biopic that opens in theaters nationwide this Friday, November 6. One winner gets four movie tickets through Fandango, a shooting script signed by the cast, a Jimmy and It’s a Wonderful Life bell ornament set, and It’s a Wonderful Life on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and digital.
Week 2 runs November 8 to 14, and three winners each get a 26-inch pre-lit Balsam Hill wreath.
Week 3 runs November 15 to 21, with three winners each getting six feet of pre-lit Balsam Hill garland. Week 4 runs November 22 to 28, when five winners each get the Cozy Christmas Kitchen Kit with Christmas teas, hot cocoa, peppermint sticks, sugar cookie mix, sprinkles, royal icing, cookie cutters, a bakeware set and a Christmas charcuterie set. Week 5 runs November 29 to December 5, and one winner gets the Balsam Hill Highland Manor ornament collection.
The grand prize takes entries the whole drive, November 1 through December 13. One winner gets a pre-lit 6.5-foot Balsam Hill Stratford Spruce tree with an embossed velvet tree skirt, plus the wreath, garland and ornaments, six Christmas stockings, a Christmas dinner, a $1,000 shopping spree, a personal video from Jen and her Christmas movie friends, and every weekly prize.
Where Have We Seen Jen Lilley This Year? – Hallmark fans know Jen from more than a dozen holiday movies on Hallmark Channel and Great American Family. She returned to Hallmark this spring in A Royal Setting, and in July she starred with Nick Bateman in Love Under the Mistletoe, the final premiere of Christmas in July. Now she’s heading to the big screen as Gloria Stewart opposite KJ Apa in Jimmy, with fellow Hallmark favorite Sarah Drew playing Hedda Hopper. Greg and I already have our tickets for Sunday, November 8, at AMC Disney Springs 24 at Disney Springs, and I can’t wait to see her as Gloria on the big screen. It’s a busy season for her, and she still made room to bring this drive home.
Why We Are Asking You to Give: I know what a gift under the tree can mean to a family, because I know what it’s like to wonder if there will be one. Jen’s work with Toys for Tots and so many other organizations gives kids something magical on Christmas morning, and it brings that feeling of Christmas back for the parents watching them open it. The prizes are a lovely thank-you, but they aren’t the point. The point is a kid who wakes up on December 25 and knows somebody remembered them. If you can give $15, that’s a book a child gets to keep. If giving isn’t possible for you this year, sharing the drive with a friend helps too.
Christmas Is Not Cancelled runs through Sunday, December 13, 2026, and Week 1 closes Saturday, November 7. For more holiday coverage, visit our Hallmark Countdown to Christmas hub and all of our Hallmark news at Fantasy Land News.
