Holiday Recap

A month has passed but we are still feeling the warmth from the holidays, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to recap all of our holiday events and activities.

We kicked the holidays off with our annual Toy Drive at the beginning of November. As always, we were overwhelmed and humbled by the turnout. Santa and his elves were busy greeting cars, unloading, and sorting toys all morning. Shortly after the Toy Drive, our staff "shopped" from these donations to select gifts for our foster family holiday event. This year, we provided our families with tickets to see the Holiday Lights at the Medina County Fairgrounds on December 4th. Families were invited to drive through at our agency before the event where Santa was handing out gifts for all the children in the home. Our staff shopped and wrapped gifts (with help from our friends at Cleveland Clinic ICU) for 125 kids in 46 foster and kinship families!

Families were also able to submit a wish list for any child in MCJFS custody. We were able to fill every single wish list thanks to our amazing community! We provided gifts for 161 total children. Gifts were provided by:
-23 by individual donors
-61 by churches, businesses, or other organizations
-74 through our Amazon List - by at least 75 donors
-3 last-minute wish lists shopped by us using donated gift cards and funds

In addition to the wish lists, we had many groups contact us with special donations. A local Girl Scout Troop donated books for every child to receive at least one book with their Christmas gifts. The Children's Center of Medina County coordinated donations of pajamas for every child. Recognizing that our teens are often overlooked at the holidays, First Baptist Church coordinated donations and gift cards specifically for our older kids. Plus so many more special donations from individuals and organizations who wanted to help. 

Looking back, we are thrilled with all the ways we were able to bring joy to our kids for the holidays and we want to thank our fantastic Medina community for the many ways you donated and supported us to make this happen! We're looking forward to next year already!