“Christmas in July” is not just the theme for Hallmark Channel’s original movies airing in the height of the summer season, it’s also a month-long campaign to help provide essential school supplies in the fall for children in foster care, or those at risk of entering the foster care system. Spearheaded by “Days of our Lives” and “General Hospital” alum Jen Lilley, who’s been moonlighting in the TV movie world as the star of a multitude of Hallmark originals, the actress recently recruited some of her soap pals to take on the fellas from the card making channel as they show their support for the fundraiser and giveaway.
Following up on her Instagram post in June wherein she released a video of the Hallmark hunks giving their support for the campaign, Lilley’s soap star pals from “Days of our Lives,” including Eric Martsolf, Billy Flynn, Brant Daugherty, Paul Telfer, Shawn Christian, Mike Manning, Galen Gering, Christopher Sean, and Lamon Archey, released their own version of the campaign (shown below) as they tell their Hallmark counterparts how much they want to help kids, too.
“You know what Hallmark hunks? We want to help kids too,” starts off Martsolf in the soap hunks video. “Oh, hey girl. We hear it’s the hot girl summer,” adds Flynn. “You know what’s hot?” questions Daugherty. “Celebrating Christmas in July,” answers Telfer as he does pull-ups while wearing a Santa elf hat. “Helping children in foster care,” proclaims Christian. “Having fun while getting the chance to win $25,000 worth of amazing prices!” Manning shares. “So, what are you up to this summer?” asks Gering as he stands in his pool. “Why don’t you join us to help kids?” declares Christopher who’s shown holding a guitar while wearing a cowboy hat.
The video ends with Archey saying, “Happy hot girl Summer. Hottie!” while making his pecs dance.
The Hallmark video features such hunks as Paul Campbell, Chris McNally, Will Kemp, Carlo Marks, Marcus Rosner, Paul Greene, Andrew Walker, and Chris Russell. Former soap stars Ryan Paevey and Trevor Donovan are also featured alongside returning soap star and Hallmark channel favorite, Cameron Mathison.
“Our goal is to send 2,021 children in foster care back to school this fall with backpacks full of school supplies. Help us reach our goal for a chance to win $25,000 in prizes!!” reads a message on ChristmasIsNotCancelled.com, the website hosting the donation campaign that was launched in 2020 by Lilley and her friend Ale as they wanted to prevent the cancellation of the Christmas season spurred on by the pandemic.
With under 500 backpacks left to fill with supplies, you can help give back while entering for a chance to win prizes every week. Supporters can also make purchases of several goodies, including Camp gear branded with “Christmas in July.”
Visit the Christmas Is Not Cancelled for more information and to support the “Christmas in July” campaign.