Peggy Revell
With Christmas drawing near, Family & Children’s Services here is hoping the community once again will help make the season brighter as its annual “Adopt an Angel” campaign gets underway.
“We’re looking forward to everybody adopting an ‘angel’ and making a child’s Christmas happy,” Debra Bruyere said about the program, which aims to ensure there will be a present under the Christmas tree for every foster child or child in need being served by FACS across the district.
Now in its eighth year, Bruyere said they are hoping to have gifts for 170 children this year.
New this year, The Bargain Shop in Fort Frances has come forward to be one of the locations where people can adopt an “angel.”
“We’re happy to have them on board,” said Bruyere.
To participate in the “Adopt an Angel” campaign, the public can drop by The Bargain Shop or Wal-Mart here in Fort Frances or Tompkins Hardware in Emo, where Christmas trees decorated with angel ornaments have been set up.
Each ornament has a “fake” name for a participating child, along with their age and gender.
Items which the child would like for Christmas also are listed.
After selecting the gifts at the store, they can be brought to the cashier for purchase. Then the gift and angel will be stored in a safe area at the store until a FACS volunteer or worker picks them up.
The gifts then will be delivered to the respective families prior to Christmas Day.
As always, to avoid ornaments going missing, people are being asked not to remove the “angels” from the store.
“Adopt an Angel” will run up to Dec. 17. And people don’t need to drop by the locations to help out.
“They can donate toys, we’ve had people who have actually donated gifts right to us, or money is always appreciated because we do top off gifts,” Bruyere noted.
“Or if ‘angels’ aren’t bought up by the end of the time period, then we have to purchase them so that no child goes without,” she added.
Anyone with questions, or would like more information, is asked to contact FACS at 274-7787.
