During the holiday season, donors provided gifts and basic needs of 3,177 Family & Children’s Services’ (FCS) children and families in need through the annual FCS Holiday Assistance program.
For so many FCS clients, December is a month filled with complex decisions. Many low- and no-income families want to give presents to their children and are tempted to buy gifts in lieu of paying bills. The Holiday Assistance program was created to help our neediest families with this type of holiday stress.
Our Holiday Assistance program consists of four components: Adopt-a-Family, the FCS Santa Shop, the Adult Program Santa Shop (new pilot program) and the Bike Donation program. The way it works is that each FCS caseworker and therapist identify clients active in treatment who need holiday assistance. This year, 160 families (727 individuals) were adopted by 127 donors to receive assistance. QuikTrip adopted 16 families, and the Fellowship Lutheran Church adopted six families.
About 1,066 individuals (children and adults) were helped through the FCS Santa Shop, a place where caseworkers can provide help for their clients’ needs. This year, donations were used to purchase items given to overburdened individuals in the form of 874 HUGS (hats, underwear, gloves, and socks), 432 books, 259 coats, 3,600 toys, and games. This year, a pilot program supporting FCS Adult Programs was introduced, and part of the $70,500 Care Card proceeds supported important needs. An estimated 1,384 individuals were helped through the program.
Thanks to this year’s annual donation by the Bike Club, Two Men and a Truck and the Sanford & Irene Burnstein Family Foundation, 240 bikes were gifted to children this week from School-Based Services, Child and Family Strengthening Center (CFSC), Women in Recovery (WIR), Women’s Justice Team (WJT), Comprehensive Home-Based Parent Support and Training Program (CHBS), Child Abuse and Trauma (CATS) and Early Childhood Programs.
During the last 17 years, the Tulsa Bike Club, Two Men and a Truck and the Sanford & Irene Burnstein Family Foundation, among others, have generously donated over 3,300 to children served by FCS.
The clients we served were grateful to all donors who helped make the holidays warmer and brighter. We gratefully pause to give all our supporters thanks.
If you would like to help throughout the year, please consider donating to FCS.