Thanks to Katie Christian Ministry’s efforts, this Christmas will be happier for the more than 1,000 children in the community. Through the non-profit organization’s Santa Sleigh Program, donors met the Christmas wishes of 1,160 children and 102 elderly people.
The beneficiaries of the gifts come from families receiving social services at KCM, and they cannot afford their children’s Christmas gifts. Through the program, the children listed what they wanted most for Christmas, and community members “adopted” the children and filled out the checklist.
Theresa Weins, Santa’s sleigh coordinator, said that this year has set a new record for the number of families served. In addition to greatly exceeding the number of households in previous years, Waynes pointed out that since 2018, the number of households served has doubled.
Waynes said that just as more and more families have filled out the list, there are more volunteers stepping up to help collect and distribute donations.
“This is the most volunteer time I have ever met, and it’s great,” she said. “It takes a lot of people to achieve this.”
15-year-old Logan Hudson is a student at Fulshear High School. He and his mother have been volunteering at KCM for about two months. “It feels great to give back to the community like this,” he said as he moved the heavy donations into the building. “Especially during the Christmas period, it is beneficial.”
“We are happy to help, even if only a little bit, do something meaningful in the community,” his mother Nicole Hudson added.
Waynes added that a group of volunteers and donors have joined the effort to help Santa’s sleigh many times in particular. In the past few years, the Southwest Bicycle Club has donated all the bicycles on the wish list, and then assembled them and gave them to the children.
Every child who asks for a bike gets a bike because of this group, and they do it every year,” said Becce Wallace, a long-time KCM volunteer. “The kids are really happy to get a bike at Christmas. This goal was achieved every year. ”
The gift was distributed to families on December 10, and the Katie Fire Department loaded the gift into the car.
“I am very grateful to the community for helping these children,” Waynes said. “These kids will have a wonderful Christmas because Katie is such a beautiful and caring community.”
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Post time: Dec-15-2021