Help Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Service's Christmas Adopt-a-Program Now

A few weeks ago, Sarah S. and her four young boys moved into a transitional home in western St. Charles County, thanks to generous donors, staff and volunteers with Sts. Joachim and Ann Care Service.

The roomy ranch home acts as a jumping off point, if you will, for Sarah and her family. Homeless for several months before moving into the transitional home (after her husband left her), Sarah now works close to full time and attends college courses to increase opportunities for herself and the boys. Eventually, she will be financially stable enough to procure housing on her own.

The folks at Sts. J & A Care Service see transformations like Sarah’s all the time. Their motto: give those in need a hand up, and they usually exceed expectations for turning their lives around. 

“Sarah is motivated. She wants the best for her and her kids,” said Pam Struckhoff, programs director for the Care Service.

As with everyone aided by the Care Service, Sarah and her boys depend on all sorts of selfless people in the community. Along with staff and volunteers at Sts. J & A Care Service, contributions come in a variety of ways from individuals, companies, charitable groups and other organizations. A range of fundraising events, including an annual garage sale in August, a golf outing in September and the Adopt-a-Family program in late fall, help the Care Service cater to those like Sarah and her boys and the hundreds of other people in need throughout St. Charles, Lincoln and Warren Counties.

Business owners, organization heads and others, NOW is the time to get on board with Sts. J & A Care Service Adopt-a-Family Christmas program.  It takes many months to coordinate the requests from families/individuals and the intake of items from generous donors. Unfortunately, gifts and goodies
don’t fall from the sky as in the movie, “Cloudy, With a Chance for Meatballs.”  Donations must be enlisted far in advance of the give-away weekend in early December.

• The Care Service is searching for one or more organizations to take charge of a used bicycle drive, as part of the Christmas give-away. Last December, some 619 at-risk children received bicycles of their own through the Sts. J & A Christmas Adopt-a-Family program. A safe home, such as enabled for Sarah and her boys, is quite a boon, but kids need added items like bikes and toys to make their childhood healthy and normal. The organization(s) hosting the bicycle drive does not have to repair them; another civic group takes care of all repairs and fine-tuning.

• The Care Service would like an organization to fund approximately $12,000 in new shoe certificates for children and others, to be distributed at the Christmas give-away in early December.

• A company or organization wishing to receive exposure can act as the Care Service’s sponsor for the Christmas Adopt-a-Family program. In that capacity, the sponsoring company or organization supplies boxes for the donated gifts, which can sport a logo/company image in a visible place.  Hundreds of these filled boxes line the collection site walls at the give-away; publicity and other photos inevitably include reminders of the sponsor, as seen on the names/logos throughout the room.  
• The Care Service needs volunteers from the sponsoring company or organization to help out before, during and after the collection weekend in December.    

As you must have heard before, poverty doesn’t take a break for the many in need. Likewise, Sts. J & A Care Service keeps planning ahead for the needs that must be met at every point during the year. Think of Christmas as just a few seasons away, and it puts the short time frame in perspective. Help the Care Service make the coming Christmas the best ever for the all the men, women, boys and girls in dire need—who could just as easily be you or me, but for the grace of God.

For more information contact:  

Karen Runge                     
Director of Development, Sts. J & A Care Service
krunge@jacares.org