The Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington is putting a call out to its community to help make Christmas wishes come true through the Adopt-A-Family Program.
This year, the foundation has received a record-breaking number of referrals from social workers who identify families in need.
To date, 1,055 families have been referred to the program, and the foundation anticipates another 200 families might be referred by social workers before they are done.
The Children’s Foundation is calling on its community – and the community of those families – to help find donors for the 50 families still un-matched at this time.
While the increase in demand is challenging to meet, the outpouring of support from donors is empowering – the need is great, but the community is greater.
Many companies and organizations have chosen to forego traditional Secret Santa gift exchanges in order to help provide for those in need.
The structure of the Adopt-A-Family Program is particularly unique and offers a personal touch both to donors and recipient families: each family submits a “needs” and “wishes” list, and while the family’s identity is protected, the donors receive a profile indicating how many children are in their family, their names, favourite colours and sizes.
These are real people, with real hopes and dreams, organizers note.
The needs and wishes lists are sobering, often including items such as pajamas, a pillow or some pots and pans requested by one independent youth.
“We have seen families in need for a variety of reason,” said program director Karyn Kirkwood.
“Some families have experienced job loss in the past year, some have experienced serious illness or death, some are newcomers to Canada and struggling to make ends meet. While each story is unique, they all share a common thread: no one expected it to be this way.
“Christmas time is a time of joy and celebration, but for those down on their luck, where every day is a struggle, it can be a time of great stress. The Adopt-A-Family Program offers a helping hand to those who need one to help make this time of year as joyous as it can be.”
To support one of the remaining families or help in another way, such as donating much-needed grocery and gift cards, visit www.childrensfoundation.org to sign-up or call the Children’s Foundation Adopt-A-Family team at 519-829-0855.
