You may be new to this event, or perhaps you’ve supported our efforts in past years. For seven years my family and more than a dozen of our friends have volunteered to help stage a holiday event for families of Head Start children. This year we’re serving more children than ever before … more than 140 3-to-4 year old boys and girls.
And every year we’ve provided an opportunity for people like you to donate to a cause that you’re absolutely certain will go directly to the people intended. It’s as if you were there yourself, helping families in a material way. That’s the sentiment that got my wife and me started in the first place. That first holiday season we decided that instead of just giving money blindly to a charity and hope it does some good, we’d provide hands-on service to people who are undeniably among the community’s most under-served. (To qualify for Head Start, we learned that a family of three could not have an annual household income exceeding $18,000!)
The photo above shows one of our volunteers working at that event’s more than one dozen activity stations. Each child is encouraged to go to each station. They get to decorate mini-cupcakes, face painting and a mini bowling game, where each child wins a small prize. This year we’re working on staging more of these than ever before — fifteen!
But the real help goes beyond and entertaining evening, and comes in other ways. Each family receives a hot meal. More than a dozen food baskets are raffled off. And the children all go home with a personalized bag stuffed with warm gloves, a fleece hat, a scarf, and educational toys and supplies. Below is a photo of these bags … we’ve been busy hand-lettering them over the Thanksgiving weekend.
What’s more, I’ve been sewing the hats (here’s what they look like), which are of a warm fleece that matches their scarves.
Won’t you help us? We can’t stage this event without the financial support of people like you. Please use the Donate button in the right column to give whatever you can, using any major credit card. And thank you!