According to Family Gateway Community Engagement Committee Board Chair Quincy Roberts,
“Our committee works to support the work of Family Gateway through a variety of activities with children experiencing homelessness in our care. One of our favorite activities is around the corner: Our Holiday Store.
“While parents are ‘shopping’ and then having gifts their gifts wrapped by our great volunteers, children are having pictures made with Santa, enjoying arts and crafts or holiday movies. We love to offer parents the ability to select gifts themselves and deliver the gifts themselves to their children. The gift-wrapping stations are often full of tears of gratitude from our parents (and the volunteers join right in). It is a beautiful day.
“The Holiday Store is stocked every year with new, unwrapped, donated toys through the generosity of our community. This holiday season, we’d love to see every child in our care receive gifts from their parents. We need your donations of new, unwrapped toys to make sure that no child goes without feeling the joy of the holidays.
“After three years as a Board member with Family Gateway, I’ve seen the impact of homelessness on families with children. Things we often take for granted are just out of reach for many of our kids, and we want our kids to share in the joy of the holiday season, just as other children experience.”
* Graphic/photo provided by Family Gateway