by JBA YLS Board of Governors member Brad Blair
It’s getting close to that time of year, again! The chill in the air signifies the beginning of the “giving season,” a time of kindness and grace felt by many families around the globe, but unfortunately, some more than others.
At the end of the year, as parents pack the furious trail of wrapping paper into garbage bags while their children show off their cool new toys to their friends, the holiday season will conclude for many.
However, for the members of the Young Lawyers Section of The Jacksonville Bar Association and approximately 30 local children, the holiday season will just be getting under way.
If you have been fortunate enough to spend the holidays with children, then you have witnessed the joy they express as they receive a gift, which quickly turns into excitement as they tear through the wrapping paper and rip off the last piece of Scotch tape.
Whether they are decorating the Christmas tree, lighting the candles on each night of Hanukkah, making lists for Santa Claus, or spinning dreidels with friends and family, children embody the purest of hope and felicity associated with this time of year.
Sadly, many children right here in Jacksonville will not get a chance to experience the merriment of this holiday season. Each year at this time, child protection agencies are forced to relocate thousands of children from unsafe or abusive homes into alternative foster care.
As a result, a majority of these children miss out on the holiday festivities with their new families and don’t get an opportunity to open presents.
Holiday in January is an initiative designed to celebrate the “giving season” with relocated foster children and their new families.
The Young Lawyers Section of The Jacksonville Bar Association and the Northeast Florida Paralegal Association will team up with Family Support Services of North Florida on Jan. 15 to sponsor this year’s “Holiday in January Project.” The party will include a visit from Santa Claus, games and craft stations, pizza, sugar-filled snacks, plus bicycles and other presents for all of the children who attend.
The ultimate goal of the “Holiday in January Project” is to let these children know that Santa Claus did not forget them!
For the past three years, I have volunteered for the “Holiday in January Project” and always look forward to seeing, firsthand, the utter joy in the eyes of the children as Santa presents them with a brand-new bicycle. For some children, it will be the first Christmas present they ever receive.
Year after year, the “Holiday in January Project” reminds me of how truly blessed I am, and how it is so imperative for all of us to give back to those who are less fortunate, especially children.
Since its inception, the “Holiday in January Project” has provided a real Christmas to more than 50 children. With the assistance and generosity of local law firms and businesses, I am hopeful that this number will continue to rise for years to come.
For information regarding volunteer or sponsorship opportunities for the “Holiday in January Project,” please contact Bradley Blair at [email protected].
As Winston Churchill said, “we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” The “Holiday in January Project” is an opportunity for each of us to venerate the giving season by taking some of what we’ve been given and paying it forward to these forgotten children in our community. On behalf of the Young Lawyers Section of The Jacksonville Bar Association, I would like to wish each of you a safe and joyous holiday season!