Sign-up for Combined Community Service’s annual Adopt A Family is Nov. 4, with sign-up for Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Nov. 5.
CCS Director of Client Assistance Peggi Lisenbee-Wright said Adopt A Family is “our Christmas program where the community adopts a family. They provide a meal and some gifts from the wish list. They choose their own family.”
<span style=”font-family: Verdana, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;”>She said many businesses, agencies, churches, service clubs and families adopt the families.
To sign up as recipients for Adopt A Family, Lisenbee-Wright said a family has to live in Kosciusko County and the parent has to have full custody of the children. Those signing up this year can not have been on the program in 2013 or 2014, and can not be on any other program like Angel Tree.
The parent must show proof that their children live with them full time, such as a birth certificate or school records.
If a house includes children under 13, teenagers also can be on the application; otherwise the Adopt A Family program is for households with children under 13.
Sign-up is from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., but the time may be extended if necessary and if CCS doesn’t run out of applications.
“There are a lot of programs and we do compare names to stop duplication and make sure that everyone gets a merry Christmas,” Lisenbee-Wright said.
If CCS gets too many applicants, she said, the families new to the program will be serviced first. Once those families are taken care of, CCS will open up the program to families previously in the program.
“Adopt A Family is not to get your second Christmas, it’s for children who don’t have grandparents, aunts and uncles and other families who will buy for them. There are children in our county who won’t get Christmas, they just won’t,” she said.
Starting at 9 a.m. Nov. 5, Lisenbee-Wright said people can start choosing their families to adopt. They also can email her at pwright@combinedcommunityservices.org
Those adopting a family can either choose to deliver the meals and gifts themselves, or have CCS deliver them.
“We usually need them a week before Christmas if we’re delivering. We ask them to notify the family they’ve adopted and set up a delivery time with the parents if they’re delivering,” Lisenbee-Wright said.
CCS Emergency Services Coordinator Lindsay Devereaux said the Adopt A Family program “really is an incredible program. It’s really, really cool when what happens is some kid who normally wouldn’t get Christmas at all is able to know that they are special, that they are being given gifts. … I feel that our program is a really, really good way to show kids and families that they are loved by people in the community, by us and by Jesus.”
Devereaux recounted how she and her boyfriend adopted one girl last year who needed clothes but also asked for just a few toys. After they bought clothes for the girl, they didn’t have much money left to buy fun things for her.
While shopping for the girl, Devereaux said they ran into a friend who asked what they were doing. When they told the friend they were shopping for a girl they adopted through the CCS program, the friend pulled out his wallet, reached in and gives them $100. He told them to add that to what they were spending on the girl.
“We were able to give her everything on the list. We spoiled her – I don’t know if that was good or not,” Devereaux said.
Lisenbee-Wright said, “It’s my favorite program because the whole community is involved.”
Due to construction, traffic for CCS may be backed up and parking is limited to the CCS parking lot only. Lisenbee-Wright said if a person parks at surrounding businesses for CCS, they may be asked to move their vehicle.
“It’s better to come back a little later if parking is full because it’ll go on and we’ll get people in,” she said.
For Angel Tree, sign-up is from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Salvation Army.
Angel Tree is for children under 12 years old. The family has to live in Kosciusko County and the parent has to have full custody of the child. If they’re participating in Angel Tree, they also can’t participate in another area program.
Lisenbee-Wright said, “There’s a lot of need in our county. People ask a lot how do we make sure people aren’t cheating – number one, God makes sure people aren’t cheating. Your kids don’t cheat, they do not cheat. It’s about Christmas. And we do our best to compare names and do an intake where we get information on the family. But in the end, we don’t have a good answer when people ask that other than we do our best.”
(Story By The Times Union)
