At Champions for Charity, Lunch at the Americana Counts

Americana Manhasset lists its 2026 Champions for Charity stores in alphabetical order. Burberry comes first, then Cartier, then Cipollini Pronto Cafe. Further down, Ralph's Coffee sits between Ralph Lauren and Scanlan Theodore. Kith Treats is listed just before Kiton, and Youngs Farm Cafe at Hirshleifers sits a few lines above Zegna.

That list changes how the weekend reads. Champions for Charity runs Thursday through Saturday, December 3 to 5, 2026, at 2060 Northern Boulevard. During those three days, 25% of every full-price, pre-tax purchase at a participating location goes to the nonprofit or nonprofits the shopper chooses. The roster includes the places where Manhasset stops for a coffee or a long lunch, right alongside Van Cleef & Arpels and Louis Vuitton. The nonprofits on the 2026 list include several based in Manhasset or very close by.

Seven of the Names Serve Food

The 2026 roster has 56 entries. Seven are cafés or restaurants:

• Cipollini Trattoria & Bar
• Cipollini Pronto Cafe
• Toku Modern Asian Restaurant
• Ralph's Coffee
• Max Mara Café
• Youngs Farm Cafe at Hirshleifers
• Kith Treats at Hirshleifers

The rest of the list covers the center's full range. You'll find Tiffany & Co., Cartier, David Yurman and London Jewelers, but also J.Crew, Madewell, Bluemercury, Brooks Brothers, Theory and Optical Shop of Aspen. The 25% applies the same way at every participating location, so the formula itself is the useful part. A full-price $40 lunch that qualifies would mean $10 for the nonprofit you picked. A $400 holiday gift would mean $100. Big purchases still drive the totals, but the program is open to anyone with a reason to be on the Miracle Mile that weekend.

How the Champion Number Works

The whole thing runs on a single number tied to your account. Americana describes the process in three steps, and registration for 2026 is open now.

1. Register. The registration page asks you to log in or create an Americana account. Then you get your Champion Number and pick the charities you want to support.
2. Shop December 3 to 5. Buy full-price items at participating stores and restaurants on any of the three days.
3. Show the number at the register. Americana says 25% of the purchase goes to your chosen causes when you present your Champion Number.

The event page doesn't list a registration deadline. With the weekend four weeks away, signing up now means there's no account setup at the counter on a busy Saturday in December.

The Fine Print From Past Years

The 2026 page links to a Terms, Conditions, and Exclusions section, and that's the place to check before shopping. Notices that participating nonprofits posted for earlier editions give a sense of the usual limits. For the 2024 event, the Jericho Educational Foundation told supporters that donations applied to full-price merchandise only. It added that stores had product exclusions and their own policies on gift certificates and special orders. For 2023, the Bruce Museum noted that Americana and American Express gift cards bought during the event didn't count toward donations. It also mentioned store-specific rules on returns and exchanges.

Those are earlier years' rules, and the 2026 terms on Americana's site are the ones that apply. Full price is the common thread. A sale rack won't help your charity, but a regular-price coffee and pastry should.

How Ordinary Purchases Added Up to $1.8 Million

The program began in 1996. Newsday credits Frank Castagna, who helped turn a strip mall into a luxury shopping destination, with starting it. His daughter, Catherine Castagna, is president of Castagna Realty Co., the parent company of Americana Manhasset.

The growth is the striking part. Newsday reported that the December 2020 event raised $900,000 over three days. Five years later, Americana announced that the December 4 to 6, 2025 event raised $1.8 million, the largest single-year total in the program's history. So the three-day total doubled between 2020 and 2025.

At a 25% donation rate, $1.8 million in gifts means roughly $7.2 million in qualifying purchases across one weekend. The longer view points the same way. Americana says the program has raised more than $23 million since 1996, and more than $13.5 million of that came in the last decade. That means well over half of thirty years of giving arrived in the most recent ten.

The 2025 announcement says more than 70 stores took part and supported more than 100 nonprofits. Their causes range from healthcare and medical research to food insecurity, youth programs, mental health services, animal welfare and cultural institutions. Stores also added in-store extras that year, including flower bars, artisanal treats, live music and custom touches.

Where a Manhasset Champion Number Can Point

Each shopper chooses where the money goes, and the 2026 list has plenty of groups close to home. A few of them:

• Tower Foundation of Manhasset, on the list for 2026
• Manhasset SCA, which works to build cooperation between teachers and parents and between school and community
• Manhasset Women's Coalition Against Breast Cancer, which funds research, education and support services
• Ryan Kiess Memorial Fund, which provides scholarships to Manhasset High School and the University of Scranton and supports community needs in Manhasset and Scranton
• North Shore Animal League America, which rescues and rehomes companion animals
• Long Island Cares, which serves Long Islanders facing hunger and food insecurity
• St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center, founded in 1922 and located in nearby Roslyn
• North Shore University Hospital Auxiliary, the volunteer group that raises money for the hospital and supports its patients

Some of these groups describe the weekend as one of their key fundraisers. In Americana's announcement of the 2025 results, Christina Pullo Daloia, an executive board member of the Tower Foundation of Manhasset, listed what the money has paid for:

"Champions is one of our biggest and most fun events of the year. The funds have impacted so many initiatives, most recently we upgraded the entire security system and visitor management system as the secondary school in Manhasset, we have updated the broadcast journalism program, we have done future ready classrooms, we have provided chromebooks to so many students, we have done so many things over the years."

The same announcement quotes Dr. Virginia Maurer, founder of the Maurer Foundation, which teaches young adults about breast health. She said the donations have had "a tremendous impact" on the foundation's education programs. The Maurer Foundation for Breast Health Education is on the 2026 list too.

Shoppers can pick more than one organization. Americana's page doesn't explain how a purchase is divided among several choices, so if that matters to you, check the official terms or ask a participating store. The full 2026 list of nonprofits and stores is on the Champions for Charity page. That page also has an add-to-calendar link for Thursday, December 3.

If Champions for Charity is already on your December calendar, we'd love to hear which local cause your Champion Number will support this year. At Limor Karudo & Elimore Kochavi, we've been part of this North Shore community for years and enjoy talking about the groups that keep it running, holiday season or not. Reach Out anytime.