The 100-foot-tall Mayor’s Christmas Tree that sits in Crown Center Square is one of the nation’s tallest and sports 7,200 white lights. This special tree stands as a symbol of the Mayor’s Christmas Tree Fund, which helps more than 33,000 people in the Kansas City area have a Merry Christmas each year. The main fundraiser is the sale of ornaments made from last year's tree and offered exclusively at Crown Center Customer Service.The Mayor's Christmas Tree Fund has dwindled over the past couple of years, and this year as many as 500 applicants could be denied assistance. The fund is expected to earn around $40,000 with much of it going to elderly and disabled adults via $30 gift cards from Price Chopper grocery stores.
This holiday tradition began in 1878. For the past several years Crown Center has covered the cost of transporting a donated tree from the Pacific Northwest to Crown Center Square and reassembling it. The lights are turned on the Friday after Thanksgiving in a ceremony beginning at 6 p.m.
