Christmas Adopt-a-Family............

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I don't know if anyone else does this kind of thing around the holidays, but I thought I'd bring it up to encourage others to do similar things.

My wife and I have adopted a family in need every X-mas for the last few years. Last year, we adopted a single mother with a 2 year old and a 9 month old child. She was a battered wife who had to escape her situation and left with little more than the clothes on her back. We purchased new kitchen stuff, new work clothes, and some other need things for the mom. We also got the kids new clothes, toys, diapers, and all the other things to get her started on her new life. She wrote us a great letter thanking us for helping her family that made it all worthwhile.

This year, we are adopting a single mom with 6 children between the ages of 10-17. She lost her job and her home and is now in a single mom's shelter. We bought each child a couple of outfits, new shoes, underwear, socks, and a couple of toys including bikes for the youngest two kids. We got the mom new clothes, bedding, vacuum cleaner, pots and pans, and shoes. We also gave them a gift card to cover two months of groceries for the family. Our family has decided not to purchase gifts for each other except for gifts for the kids. We felt it was much more important to put all the money we could into helping this family out since we have everything we really need.

While I understand that not everyone is able to help at this level, I hope that this post encourages at least a couple of you to donate time or goods to someone who needs help. Take a bag of canned goods to a local shelter. Take clothes to a homeless shelter. Offer your time at a soup kitchen. While you're there, don't just drop the stuff off. Take the time to meet the people and realize that most of them are just like you outside of a bad break that they might have run into. Just the thought of the impact that our giving has on these families is a VERY special feeling. There's nothing more rewarding than starting a cycle of giving in your family.

[Marc Vaughan]

Really cool thing to do imho.

[Lathum]

very nice gesture.

My wifes office adopted a family and it was nice getting stuff for them. We also donate to the local food bank and military base.

What I do is when I go food shopping around holidays I'll look for really good sales. It is usually stuff I don't eat, but someone would and just get a bunch of stuff. Canned goods, etc... It is amazing how much stuff on sale you can get for $20 from the supermarket.

[Telle]

I try to do an "adopt an angel" each year. The church I went to when we lived in Massachusetts did it for kids in DSS custody, so I did that for a couple of years. Then last year RendeR's work had something similar. This year I found that JCPenney.com has teamed up with the Salvation for their "adopt an angel" program. I adopted a 3 year old girl. She requested shirts and a Barbie. So I bought her three long sleeve t-shirts, a sweater, a Barbie doll, and a Barbie clothing accessory pack. It's one of my favorite things to do each year at Christmas.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Telle

I try to do an "adopt an angel" each year. The church I went to when we lived in Massachusetts did it for kids in DSS custody, so I did that for a couple of years. Then last year RendeR's work had something similar. This year I found that JCPenney.com has teamed up with the Salvation for their "adopt an angel" program. I adopted a 3 year old girl. She requested shirts and a Barbie. So I bought her three long sleeve t-shirts, a sweater, a Barbie doll, and a Barbie clothing accessory pack. It's one of my favorite things to do each year at Christmas.

That's awesome. You don't even have to be there to see her unwrap it to know how special all that stuff will be to that little girl.

[clemsonfan]

We get a name off of the angel tree each year too. This year we got an 8 year old boy who wanted a Lego set. So, I went out and bought this really cool Darth Vader and his ship Lego set. I just wish I could meet the kids that I have "adopted" over the years.

[gstelmack]

We also do the Angel Tree thing. We have two kids, so we pick two angels that roughly match our kids and let the kids help us pick stuff for them.

I'd consider the adopt-a-family thing if I knew where to look to find one. I've participated in the past when an office has done it, but not personally for our family.

[CamEdwards]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

We also do the Angel Tree thing. We have two kids, so we pick two angels that roughly match our kids and let the kids help us pick stuff for them.

I'd consider the adopt-a-family thing if I knew where to look to find one. I've participated in the past when an office has done it, but not personally for our family.

We do the same thing for each of our kids. Actually this year my wife and I are skipping presents for each other and are going to be spending the money on charitable donations instead.

[molson]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

We do the same thing for each of our kids. Actually this year my wife and I are skipping presents for each other and are going to be spending the money on charitable donations instead.

Cool. I read some stat recently about how much we blow on Christmas, and how we could basically eliminate poverty if we cut back by a miniscule amount.

[Philliesfan980]

Thanks guys for this thread. I've been harping on my GF and her parents about this for years.

Every year, they end up spending $300-500 on odds and ends for me (most of it I never even use), and I keep telling them we should just donate it to charity to people who really need the stuff. We're fortunate as it is, we don't need to lavish each other with tons of gifts at Christmas. For us, it's really Christmas every day of the year.

[JediKooter]

Our office adopts a family each christmas. I think last year it was a family whose house burnt down and they had 3 kids.