AFL-CIO Community Service’s Adopt-A-Family program continues to seek volunteers to help provide a Christmas to area families and individuals who may not be able to afford one otherwise.
“Most of them try their best to manage their finances to make it day-to-day but to find extra dollars to purchase Christmas gifts is near impossible for them,” said Penny Adams, AFL-CIO Ex. Dir. “Many of them the only way they could do it is not pay their rent, or utilities…and then that gets them in a deeper hole than they’re already in.”
As of Tuesday only 357 families out of 861 had been adopted.
Adams said usually at this point in time around 50-percent of families have been adopted.
“I know right now a lot of people are doing their own shopping,” said Adams. “We’re hoping as soon as they’re done with their own Christmas they’re check their dollars and pennies and see if they have enough to spare.”
Adams said there are many families with many different stories in need of help this Christmas.
St. Joe’s Qcountry 92.7 is joining with the Adopt-A-Family program to ask the community’s support again this year. Q-Country will be broadcasting stories of families signed up in the program Wednesday, Dec. 10 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“What we’ll do is review families that are in the books still to be adopted,” said Adams. “Whatever size of family they want. What we’ll do is pull three or four or five of those families that meet their guidelines send them to them to review and then they get to chose who they want.”
