This year’s Eagles Christmas album aims to give a holiday gift to each Philadelphia School District student. All 116,000 of them.
“That’s the Philadelphia spirit that I’ve come to know, love, and appreciate.”
Get ready for Operation Snowball.
The Philly Specials are planning to raise enough money with the new Eagles Christmas album to give every student in the School District of Philadelphia a gift this holiday season.
All 116,000 of them.
A Philly Special Christmas Party, the third album of holiday songs to feature singing offensive linemen Jordan Mailata, Lane Johnson, and recent retiree Jason Kelce, comes out Friday.
Like its predecessors, 2022’s A Philly Special Christmas and last year’s A Philly Special Christmas Special, the album produced by the War On Drugs drummer Charlie Hall, and featuring an all-star cast of local musicians, will raise funds for the Children’s Crisis Treatment Center, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and other local charities.
But this year, the Philly Specials team, which includes ex-Eagle Connor Barwin, who co-executive produces the project with Kelce, is also working with the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia to raise enough money through sales of the new album on vinyl and CD to present every student in the school district with a gift.
What kind — and how big — of a gift? That hasn’t been specified as of yet.
But the hope is that this album, which features a Kelce duet with Stevie Nicks on Ron Sexsmith’s “Maybe This Christmas” and the Hall of Fame-bound center singing with his brother, Travis, and Boyz II Men on “It’s Christmas Time (In Cleveland Heights),” can exceed the fundraising reach of the previous two holiday releases.
The first Eagles Christmas album raised $1 million, and the second raised $3 million. A Philly Special Christmas Party will again be available on vinyl through phillyspecialchristmas.com, but will also be for sale on CD at select retail outlets in the region. Fans are also encouraged to give directly to the Fund for the School District of Philadelphia through an Operation Snowball donation page.
“When I first came to Philadelphia, it was apparent how much pride and joy, the sense of community and family that this city exudes,” Jason Kelce said in a statement. “We’ve done two Christmas albums and … raised over four million dollars and given to over fifty charitable organizations.
“And this year we are trying to go even bigger, we’re trying to give a gift to every kid in the Philly public schools this holiday season. If that’s not the holiday spirit, I don’t know what is. That’s the Philadelphia spirit that I’ve come to know, love, and appreciate.”