Today, held an open house to show all the gifts donated to the 99 families that were “adopted”.
Waterford Youth Services takes applications from those in need during Christmas. Then, people “adopt” these families, buying gifts for their children and food for Christmas dinner.
This year, 104 applied for help, and 99 were approved based on their income, Youth Services Director Dani Gorman said. This was the highest year ever, above , Gorman said.
It again shows the tremendous support of the community, Gorman said. Local companies, classes, people who work for the town and just people who wanted to help all adopted families, she said.
Overall, 311 kids were served by more than 1,500 presents, Gorman said.
Demographics
Overall, 85 percent of the people who were adopted recently had a parent lose a job, Gorman said. Five percent of the families that were adopted had an unexpected emergency in the family, such as an illness, 3 percent of the families had a family member die recently and 7 percent are low-income families, Gorman said.
“It’s important to say the majority, almost 100 percent, are wonderful people who are trying very hard and will one day soon be back on their feet again,” Gorman said.
On top of all the gifts, the Cactus Jack Foundation and the Gigliotti family donated 50 basketballs and 50 fishing poles for children.
