Family & Children’s Services pop-up Santa Shop and Adopt-a-Family program generated the response of 227 donors who ensured that 1,525 individuals and families were treated to an extraordinary surprise Christmas with gifts of clothes, bikes, toys, books, holiday meals and so much more. The annual Holiday Assistance program ran from Dec. 11-20.
For so many FCS clients, December is a month filled with difficult decisions. Many low- and no-income families want to give presents to their children and are tempted to skip paying bills in lieu of gifts. The Holiday Assistance program was created to help our neediest families with this type of holiday stress.
Donors had two ways to give: Adopt-a-Family or donate to the FCS Santa Shop. The Adopt-a-Family program matches individual and corporate donors to FCS families in need. The way it works is that each FCS caseworker and therapist identified just one client that is active in treatment and has need of more resource assistance. This year, 119 donors adopted 155 families, which equals to 631 people who received assistance. Top donors QuikTrip adopted 16 families, and Fellowship Lutheran Church in Tulsa adopted 14 families.
Other FCS families were helped through the FCS Santa Shop, a place where caseworkers can provide help for their clients’ needs. One hundred percent of donations are given to overburdened individuals in the form of 1,710 HUGS (hats, underwear, gloves and socks), 520 books, 620 coats and 3,070 toys, clothing, pajamas, games, small household items and grocery cards.
One company that makes a wonderful impression on FCS clients each year is Humble Sons Bike Company. Through their “Bikes for Kids” campaign launched with K95.5 (Tulsa’s New Country Leader), radio personality Natalie Cash climbed the stairs of a 30-foot scaffolding in the west parking lot of Owasso High School and stayed until 955 bikes were collected for Tulsa area kids. FCS received 280 bikes through the generosity of anonymous donors, Two Men and a Truck and the Burnstein Foundation. Children from FCS’s Women in Recovery, Child Abuse and Trauma, Early Childhood Program, Children’s Mental Health and Comprehensive Home-Based Services received the bikes just in time for Christmas. Humble Sons have been donating bikes to FCS children for 11 years.
The clients we serve are grateful to all donors who helped make the holidays warmer and brighter. We gratefully pause a wish you a warm and happy new year.
If you would like to help all year long, please consider making a donation to F&CS.
