Adopt-a-Family: Restoring Belief in the Magic of Christmas
Each year, Closer to Home connects generous donors with families in need of support during the holiday season. Donors hit the stores to shop for everything from basic necessities like winter coats, bedding, and pots and pans, to a fun new toy that will light up a child’s eyes on Christmas morning.
Last year, our donors gave 325 local families a magical Christmas.
One of those families was Jana’s*. Jana is a single mother who is caring for her three children. Last year, she was struggling to put food on the table for her family.
“I couldn’t even imagine how I was going to give the kids a Christmas,” she said at the time.
Jana came to us for help two weeks before Christmas. Thankfully, we still had enough donors to support her and the kids.
We matched her with two of our financial donors, and our volunteers headed out to the stores on their behalf to shop for the family’s wish list items.
“It was amazing to see [the children] act like kids again and delight in their gifts,” Jana said about Christmas morning. “They really believed in the magic of Christmas and couldn’t believe they would be so lucky.”
Today, Jana and the children are doing much better. Things are still challenging, but the support they received last Christmas and throughout the year has given them hope.
As demand for Adopt-a-Family continues to grow – it’s gone from supporting 86 families to 325 over the last five years – our donors have stepped up to ensure that every family member has a gift to open on Christmas Day.
From the local businesses whose employees rallied together as a team to support families, to the extended families who decided to give to other families in greater need than their own, to the children who were so excited to shop for other kids who wouldn’t have as much as they did on Christmas morning, Adopt-a-Family would not be possible without the generosity of our family of donors.
Want to be a part of the magic? Sign up by December 4th here.
* Name changed to protect privacy
