Christmas in Chicago is nothing short of magical. With the city lighting up and festive activities every day of December, creating Chicago holiday traditions is easy to do.

Some Chicago companies are helping foster these traditions in their own ways through giving back, unique gifts with an impact, and just helping to make the holidays in the city a little easier this year.

Christmas Tree Delivery

The Chicago company, Dolly, usually provides on-demand moving help through their app or website for those we need extra hands when making a move. For extra help during this busy holiday season, Dolly will deliver a fresh Douglas Fir or Fraser Fir Christmas tree right to your door when you reserve a tree through their app or website. Users can schedule a delivery date and time so they can enjoy more of the seasonal festivities while Dolly does the work.

This option is great for the many Chicagoans who don’t own a car to put the tree on the roof or in the bed of a truck, or who don’t want to lug a tree up four flights of apartment stairs. Dolly is also encouraging those who order a tree to share a photo of their decorated tree using the hashtag #DollyDeckTheHalls and they will choose a winner to receive $50 off their next Dolly.

Gifts With an Impact

If you’re a last minute gift shopper, make sure the gifts you buy give back. Chicago company, Packed with a Purpose, creates gift boxes with each item inside having a social impact. The products have a social impact by providing young women skills, training homeless youth, reducing waste in landfills, and gives opportunities to those who were formerly incarcerated and are trying to reshape their lives.

Items include things like jewelry, candles, unique treats, kitchen essentials, and more. There is even an “Impact Chicago” gift box which is made specifically by local people in Chicago.

The Season of Giving

The Chicago tech company Gesture is no stranger to giving back—it’s what their entire company is based on. As a mobile tech fundraising platform for charities, Gesture has partnered with over 1,000 organizations nationwide to help in specific fundraising efforts. But during the holiday season, they go an extra step to really help out others in need.

Gesture recently held a #GivingTuesday Challenge during the last week of November. The company encouraged people to donate by Nov. 28, which is known as Giving Tuesday, to remember to give back this holiday season. Users voted for a charity through dollar amounts (1 vote = $1). The three charities that won this year’s challenge were St. James Catholic School, Chicago Children’s Theatre, and Habitat for Humanity. Gesture even gave St. James School an extra $1,000 donation for receiving the most votes.

Keep Gesture in mind when you are buying all your gifts this season, and set aside some money to give to a charity that you are passionate about.

Holiday Parking Made Easy

We know Chicago tech company SpotHero has created a parking empire over the last few years, but this year, they’ve teamed up with the popular Chicago holiday destination, Christkindlmarket, to help attendees find parking.

The annual German open-air Christmas market is reported to attract about 1 million visitors each year in the month and a half the event is set up in the Daley Center Plaza. This year, there is also a smaller version located at The Park at Wrigley. As many may know, parking in Downtown Chicago and in Wrigleyville is not an easy task.

SpotHero has provided locations to park close to both of these markets that can be reserved ahead of time and can be booked for lower rates than parking garages. This way, you can enjoy the market more instead of circling around looking for parking.

Holiday Moviethon

Whether your favorite holiday movie is Elf or Diehard (It’s still up for debate if that’s technically a Christmas movie) you can watch all your favorite movies this holiday season using Xfinity’s X1 platform. Just say “Christmas movies” into your X1 Voice Remote and you will find dozens of your favorite seasonal films for you to watch. Gather around a fire, sip some hot cocoa, and enjoy this favorite holiday tradition.

Christmas is in full swing in Chicago, so make the most of this season!

 

[via: The Idea Forge ]

[Photo: freestocks/Unsplash]