Adopt a Family with CARE
Fri, 10/28/2022 - 9:11am
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By:
Beki Groenwald TPD Staff
HOWARD COUNTY - As the weather cools down and the year ripens into its final quarter, the volunteers of CARE (Community About Reaching Everyone) are in full swing with their Christmas Program.
The CARE Christmas Program matches families with children in need to local sponsors to provide a happy Christmas for all. CARE is currently taking family applications and will continue to do so up to Nov. 7. To qualify, a family must have children 18 and under and not be receiving assistance from any other Christmas program.
Sponsors can be organizations, businesses, groups, churches or individuals who’d like to adopt a family for the holidays, providing unwrapped gifts listed on tags the committee creates based on the family’s application. The process is anonymous in that sponsors only receive tags with the ages of children and their needs/wants.
There will also be CARE trees located in most local churches and at the Cresco Theatre and Opera House.
Unwrapped gifts are dropped off at the Featherlite Center in early December, and families pick them up the following day, along with donated wrapping paper so they can participate in their children’s Christmas.
CARE began in 2006 and was formally organized into a non-profit organization in 2007. Board members Stephanie Gallagher, Secretary and President; Janis Rockabrand-Wolfe, Vice President; and Lisa Nelson, Treasurer, have several initiatives throughout the year, including a Back-to-School drive in August and a winter clothing initiative in conjunction with Howard-Winneshiek school.
CARE’s mission is to assist families of Howard County that are in financial need, and it survives solely on donations. “We do have donors that help monetarily as well,” Lisa Nelson said. “We couldn’t do what we do without out all of the generous donations.”
Families in financial need this year can pick up a CARE Christmas Program application at the CUSB front desk. It must be returned there by Nov. 7. If you’d like to adopt a family for Christmas or donate to CARE, you may do so by calling Lisa Nelson or Stephanie Gallagher at 563-547-2040.
