by Mary-Kate Roan
Staff Writer
Daniel Memorial of Jacksonville may still be in the process of collecting Thanksgiving baskets for foster families, but one of Florida’s oldest child-serving agencies is already looking ahead to Christmas.
“Individuals, organizations and companies can adopt children for the holidays,” said LaTanya Wynn, assistant vice president of Child Welfare at daniel.
To be more accurate, companies and the general public of Jacksonville can sponsor a child’s Christmas wish list.
“We have about 1200 children in our care,” said Jimmy Kelly, director of donations for daniel. “And of that, we have 900 children’s wish lists completely filled and 300 more that still have yet to be filled.”
The wish lists are prepared by the children’s case workers and consist of three items within reason for gifts.
“The gifts range from food, gift cards, toys and mp3 players,” said Kelly. “And the community is always good and willing to help out.”
Speaking of willing to help out, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church has adopted 100 children to fill their wish lists.
“That’s the most children adopted by a single entity so far this year,” said Stephanie Cain, daniel Volunteer Coordinator. “Aetna is close behind, in second, with 65 children adopted.”
The ages of children with unchecked items on their wish lists range from infancy to 18-years-old. The number of children helped through daniel is down by 400 children compared to last year after budget cuts forced the organization to downsize with the faltering economy.
According to Cain, there are ways that local businesses and citizens can help.
“Toy drives can be done at work,” said Cain. “And we take cash contributions to help the children that wanted a more expensive gift.”
People can even adopt children that have specific requirements, said Cain.
“If people call or e-mail me with specifics needed by a child, I’ll match them with a child as close to those specifics as I can get,” said Cain, who can be reached at [email protected].
For more information on daniel, call 296-1055.
356-2466