The Children’s Foundation Adopt-a-Family program has already started distributing this year’s Christmas packages.
Each year donors are matched with families struggling to make ends meet. The families, including single moms and dads, independent teens, two-parent families and children being raised by grandparents, provide the program with a list of each child’s five needs and five wishes.
“What we tell all our donors is there’s no expectation you’re going to get everything, it’s really just to give a little bit of choice for the donors,” explained Karyn Kirkwood, the Adopt-a-Family program coordinator for the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington.
She said on average donors spend between $100 and $150 on each child and give a $25 grocery gift card for each family member.
Parents are not forgotten. Kirkwood said the foundation asks donors to purchase a token gift for parents in the $25 range – for example a Walmart gift card or a hat and mitt set.
“Parents often say, ‘I don’t want anything, just focus on kids,” Kirkwood said. “But we know that for a lot of kids they want to see mom and dad or … whoever it is, open something on Christmas morning.”
She anticipates over 900 families will receive gifts as part of the Adopt-a-Family program this Christmas. The families are referred by various community agencies. The Community Resource Centre is one of the large referral agencies in Wellington County.
“Every year we’re amazed at the generosity of the donors in the community,” Kirkwood said. “You don’t really know who it is that you’re helping and then of course people who are helped one year may turn around and become donors another year and vice versa.
“We’ve had donors who now need the help so it really is community helping community.”
She said the experience is humbling for both recipient families and donors.
With about 40 volunteers working at the Adopt-a-Family headquarters in Guelph, social workers are already picking up packages for some of their clients.
Gift packages will be going out until Dec. 16 and families who are referred after that date, up to Dec. 24, will not be paired with a family.
“At that point we’re not going shopping for them we’re using our store of items that people have donated through gift drives or gift card donations,” she said. She said gift card donations after Dec. 16 are helpful.
“It’s busy, incredibly busy,” Kirkwood said. “It’s like being at the North Pole at Santa’s workshop.”
Those interested in supporting a family can visit www.childrensfoundation.org to register or call 519-829-0855.
