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TM

A Program of the Attleboro Area Council for Children, Inc.

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The 2008 Gift Drive - Success!!

 

To quote from the Sun Chronicle...

Happy ending for gift drive

Volunteers Liz Cochrane of Attleboro and Sandy Newfield
of Norton match up gifts with recipients on the last day of
the Christmas Is For Kids drive.(Staff photo by Tom Maguire)

 

BY Donna Kendall SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
Wednesday, December 17, 2008 2:19 AM EST

The 2008 Christmas Is For Kids gift drive for area needy children came to a successful close on Tuesday.

"All of the kids will be well taken care of," said Kelly Fox, president of Christmas Is For Kids, the 25th annual campaign run by the Attleboro Area Council for Children. "It's great!"  
more

 

Photo Gallery of the 2008 Gift Drive

Thanks to your generous support,
we were able to provide gifts to a total of 753 kids this year!

Thank you from Christmas is for Kids
and the Attleboro Area Council for Children, Inc.
An all-volunteer organization

Site last updated as of:

For more information about this year's Gift Drive Schedule, click here. 

We are an all volunteer run, gift-giving program that assists children who would otherwise go without a gift on Christmas Day. There is no paid staff and the Council pays for costs such as printing, postage or phone expenses. All monetary donations are used in their entirety for gifts for these children.

We have been able to assist over 1,000 children each year thanks to your generosity and support! This is truly a community event!

 

Who are we helping?


We are assisting anyone in need. This may include those on some sort of public assistance but also includes  the "working poor" and those families who may be experiencing medical or emotional hardships. Today's uncertain economic climate has put financial strain on many working people. So although many people are working, the high cost of living - the rent, the utilities, the food,
our basic necessities- are what is taking away money from all of the families. It doesn't take much, a lost job, a medical emergency, etc... to put people in a position of having to choose between food for their family and heat for their homes, leaving precious little, if anything, for gifts for their children for Christmas.

Click here to see some of the families we have been able to help.

 

How does it all work?

 

The Council for Children accepts applications from parents and social workers from the MA Department of Social Services, Big Brother/Big Sister Program of Greater Attleboro, Family Resource Center, Young Parents Program, New Hope, the Attleboro Center, and the Seekonk and Rehoboth Council on Aging’s Social Service Departments.

Each family is carefully screened to assure that a need exists. Mansfield residents receive assistance from the Westside Benevolent Society and Norton residents are being help this year through the Norton Fire Dept.

Applications are made available on-line and at select locations in the Attleboro area. Note: The deadline to return applications is Friday, Nov. 7, 2008. Applications received after that date will be reviewed and accepted on a case by case basis.

 

How you can help.


The children's requests are listed in the Attleboro Sun Chronicle in the Sunday edition after Thanksgiving. For 2008, this list will appear in the newspaper on Sunday, Nov. 30th. The list of requested gift items appears on 3 full pages in the Sun Chronicle which generously provide space in their newspaper free of charge.

Members of the community participate by "sponsoring" children and purchasing a child's request. A donor makes a call to the donor request phone line and selects their child. More than one child may be selected at this time. We assign an ID number code for each child on the list who is participating in the program so we can easily keep track of all the children and gifts we receive. Please keep note of each child's  ID number code when your child has been selected. The donor will shop for the child’s requested toy and clothing items. Many donors decide to put in more toys than requested, some extra warm clothing items, food gift certificates for the family’s Christmas Dinner, and even filled stockings for the children. 
 

Where are the donated items brought?


Donors will place their unwrapped Children’s toy and clothing gift items in a large trash bag with the child’s ID number on the bag and bring their gifts to the  Donor Drop Off Center at 64 Water Street in Attleboro. We ask that the gifts not be wrapped because our "Elves" check each package to make sure the items are apprpriate for that child. 

Donors may include wrapping paper in with their gifts so the recipient's parents can have the fun of wrapping their kid's gifts!  All items that the donor brings are placed inside a plastic bag and identified by the "kid code". We have a one-day distribution to our families and agencies. It is truly a sight to see. You surely believe that there is a Santa Claus.

Toy Recall Alert!

Given the high level of concern about the safety of toys this year, we have included links to some toy recall resouce web sites, including the US Consumer Product Safety Commssion.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html
http://www.recalledtoyalert.com/

 

Our Supporters and Sponsors

We work with many major civic organizations and companies in the area who either sponsor children or conduct on-site toy & clothing collections to make sure that every child is taken care of. We do not ask them to provide this support to these children, they do this from the kindness of their hearts. They include:

The Sun Chronicle runs several articles about our program during the holiday season. With their kind permission, we may post these articles on our website. Click here to view a recent article! Other related articles may also be published in the North Attleboro Free Press, Providence Journal and Evening Times. We are grateful for all this media support!

 

Make a Donation to help our Drive!


For those who prefer to making monetary donations instead of buying gifts, a
Christmas is for Kids account has been set up with a local bank, Rockland Trust Co. Please contact the bank for details.

All of your donations are greatly appreciated and they help us help the children!
 


Our elves are all volunteers and work during the day, thus, Elves only come out in the evenings and on Saturdays.

 

 Always remember: "Heaven helps those who help them elves!" 

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CHRISTMAS IS FOR KIDS is a program
sponsored by: The Attleboro Area Council for Children, Inc.
4 Hodges Street, Attleboro, MA 02703
(508) 226-2336
(FAX) (508) 226-1793
E-Mail: kelly@councilforchildren.org
Website: councilforchildren.org

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