Meet Judith Weaver – a long time Adopt-a-Family supporter
We want to introduce you to one of our donors – Judith Weaver. She has been supporting Closer to Home’s Adopt-a-Family initiative since 2017, and since then, her passion for supporting vulnerable families is evident, and she has become a very cherished donor of Closer to Home.
Closer to Home is grateful for Judith’s ongoing support of our initiative; we wanted to learn more about her and how she has become involved with Closer to Home and, most specifically, our Adopt-a-Family initiative.
Here is what Judith shared about her drive to donate every holiday season in support of vulnerable kids and families in the community:
Q: How did she begin donating?
A: Judith said her inspiration for donating during the holiday season was sparked from a friend’s experience, who had mentioned they supported Adopt-a-Family every year at Christmas. Her friend said her children enjoyed buying and wrapping gifts for other children, and the conversation led her to do the same.
Her donation journey began with another organization, but when the charity no longer offered an Adopt-a-Family program, she began searching for something similar – she then found Closer to Home and has supported us ever since.
Q: Why is it meaningful to be involved with Closer to Home?
A: It’s meaningful to Judith because she genuinely feels that her donations make a difference with Closer to Home and those served. She appreciated the diversity of programs that Closer to Home offers and liked that we focus on enabling individuals and families to pursue positive and successful outcomes for themselves. Judith finds it comforting to know that her donations go to families in the community.
Q: What makes Closer to Home different than other charities?
A: Judith noted that looking for smaller local organizations impacting their community is essential rather than larger multinational organizations where you don’t see an impact. And where some charities offer a wish list to families in need, Closer to Home provides gift cards. Judith appreciated this approach for a few reasons. First, she believes gift cards provide similar and consistent experiences for all families, where they can personalize the appropriate gifts for their needs. The second reason is that it empowers families:
“When you get to do your shopping for food and gifts, you keep traditions alive. For example, there may be recipes or gag gifts that are part of the family’s holidays. A stranger would not know how important these things are, especially around this time of year.”
Q: What difference are you hoping to make?
A: Judith said she wants to help families who are struggling to have a better holiday season than they might otherwise have if given the opportunity. She hopes her donations will put a smile on kids, youth and parents/caregivers’ faces this holiday season and for years to come–as long as she is able.
On behalf of all of us at Closer to Home, we would like to extend a huge thank you to Judith. We truly appreciate her ongoing and committed support of Closer to Home, our Adopt-a-Family initiative and most importantly, the children, youth and families we serve. We are growing stronger together with her support.
If you want to learn more about Adopt-a-Family, visit the link below.
