The Children’s Foundation’s annual Adopt-A-Family Christmas program is now running at full steam with volunteers preparing to receive and package donations.
The Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington anticipates it will help make the Christmas wishes of more than 800 families come true this year with personalized gifts tailored to a specific family.
“The response from families has typically been very overwhelming,” said Karyn Kirkwood, the Adopt-A-Family program coordinator for Guelph and Wellington. “They’re really overwhelmed by the generosity of the gifts and how perfect they are.”
The program isn’t just rewarding for the families, Kirkwood said, it’s rewarding for the donors and social workers too.
What often happens is social workers refer families that are in need to the Adopt-A-Family program. A donor matched with that family does their best to fulfill five needs and five wishes per child on the list. Kirkwood said it will likely cost a donor $100 – $125 per child in the family.
Once the gifts are compiled Kirkwood said the social workers act as Santa, covertly delivering the presents to the families, without the children being any the wiser.
“This is a really nice opportunity for the social workers to have a really heart-warming and positive experience with the families that they support throughout the year,” Kirkwood said.
The program also asks donors to provide a $25 gift card for each family member, to the grocery store where the family shops so they can buy the food they need for the holiday season.
However, not all volunteers work in the same way. Cindy Copeland has been part of the Christmas program for eight years and she makes as many fabric bags as she can throughout the year to use as Christmas wrap for the presents.
Lee and Eve Cluderay are sisters from Toronto and, with their grandmother Katherine, they have donated 17 quilts to the Guelph and Wellington Adopt-A-Family this year.
Right now donors are being paired with families and will drop off presents so the volunteers at Adopt-A-Family can sort and wrap them. Social workers will deliver the packages up until Dec. 18.
Referrals happen right up to Dec. 18 and if there isn’t enough time to identify a donor, the program will use cash donations to purchase the gifts. Cash donations are an option for donors who are unable to take on a family.
