Seven years ago, Lonnie Walker was thinking about what it was like to enjoy the Christmas holidays growing up in New York. The Brooklyn native would always go over to Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center for the Christmas tree lighting, and to enjoy the decorations and spirit of Christmas. He always loved experiencing the pomp and circumstance of Christmas in New York as a child.
A year after founding J.O.Y (which stands for Just Our Youth) Baltimore, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide vulnerable children safety, support, and stability while striving to put an end to youth homelessness (especially LGBTQ+ youth) the year prior, he thought – wouldn’t it be nice to create a piece of the holidays in New York in Baltimore City? That’s when Miracle on Pennsylvania Avenue was born.
Since then, he has brought his annual event through a variety of areas of the City including Cherry Hill, Pennsylvania Avenue in West Baltimore, portions of East Baltimore, and beyond. This year he will continue his tradition as Miracle at Lexington Market, on December 21 from 4-8 p.m. The event, sponsored by the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund, Atlas Restaurants, and several others, will feature a tree lighting (a la the ones he experienced at Rockefeller Center as a child), food, and fun, including live music, toys for young people and even raffles for adults. Children and youth will also enjoy a marching band and a visit from Santa. Ten bicycles will also be raffled off every half hour, and there will be a fur coat raffle for parents and gift cards for free dinners for families to use during the holidays.
Walker, who says he often contributes some of his personal money to the event, says he is excited about seeing the smiles on the faces of children as they enjoy the event and receive gifts. He is also excited about having it at Lexington Market as an extension of holiday celebrations in Baltimore.
“We have the monument lighting [in Mt. Vernon], but Lexington Market is a different demographic. Lexington Market encompasses everybody – Baltimore’s big melting pot,”
he says. In years past, he says it’s always incredible to see how the neighborhood comes together in celebration of the holiday in peace.
“The work that Lonnie Walker has been able to accomplish in the community through J.O.Y Baltimore and his annual holiday event is nothing short of miraculous,” says Baltimore Children & Youth Fund President, Alysia Lee. “We are so proud of what he has been able to accomplish for a marginalized group of children and youth in Baltimore.” J.O.Y Baltimore received $150,000 from BCYF’s Community Accountable Fund in 2023. The Community Accountable Fund (CAF) supports youth-serving organizations with a demonstrated commitment to being credible with and accountable to youth and the local communities they are proposing to serve. This fund prioritizes programming that supports a specific population of youth that otherwise do not receive adequate support and Brown, Black, Indigenous, and Asian-led organizations.
“However, to see his event in action is like watching a little bit of Walker’s big heart light up the faces of children and youth one by one as they experience the magic of the holidays,” Lee says. “We are so happy not only that J.O.Y Baltimore is one of our grantees, but also that the organization clearly exemplifies the good that can happen in a city when community members and partners unite in their unwavering commitment to create recurrent miracles in the lives of children and youth.”
For more information about Miracle at Lexington Market, visit joybaltimore.org.
About J.O.Y Baltimore
J.O.Y Baltimore is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide vulnerable children safety, support, and stability while striving to put an end to youth homelessness (especially LGBTQ+ youth). The organization was founded in the year 2015 and serves 2500 young people and their families annually.
About BCYF
The Baltimore Children & Youth Fund (BCYF) is a public charity stewarding public dollars to build partnerships that support the ecosystem focused on building opportunities for Baltimore youth. The organization amplifies Black and Brown-led youth-centered programs in Baltimore City while providing capacity building, resources, and funding.
BCYF envisions a more just, creative, and abundant Baltimore where all young people live, thrive, and lead. We imagine an ecosystem of sustainable youth programs with full agency, liberated from the harm of structural racism and inequity and able to thrive in abundance. Since 2020, the Baltimore Children & Youth Fund has awarded $23M dollars to primarily youth-serving organizations thanks to generous donations and the tax dollars of Baltimore City residents.
The effort to create a dedicated fund to support programs for Baltimore’s young people was launched in 2015 by then-City Council President Bernard “Jack” C. Young. The fund was a response to the unrest in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody, an event that sharply illuminated longstanding inequities in public funding in Black communities. BCYF is guided by one central value, Ubuntu (n.) I am because of who we all are. Ubuntu is the southern African philosophy that describes the interconnectedness of all people. It emphasizes the idea that an individual’s well-being is intricately tied to the well-being of the community. The philosophy promotes humanity, service, sharing, healing, and reconciliation.
