Fort Scott holiday program finds sponsors for all its families

FORT SCOTT, Kan. -- Organizers of a local holiday community assistance program can breathe a sigh of relief.

With less than a week to go before the distribution date, organizers of the annual Adopt-A-Child program and other local volunteers have been successful in finding sponsors for all 90 families and 387 children that are registered to receive assistance this year during the holiday season.

"They are all covered," The Beacon Director Bob Eckles said Friday. "We got them all adopted."

Eckles said he started to get worried earlier this week when he discovered that nearly 30 children still had not been adopted in the program with the registration and distribution deadlines approaching. Through a last-minute effort, organizers were able to find sponsors for all eligible needy children and families in the program, he said.

In the program, which is a collaborative effort between The Beacon, a local community assistance agency and food pantry, the Elks Lodge and the Southeast Kansas Community Action Program, sponsors provide food, toys and clothing during the holiday season to children 14 years of age and younger who come from low-income families.

Each year, individuals, schools, businesses, churches, clubs and other organizations become sponsors to donate items to eligible children and families. Sometimes, rather than "adopting" a family, sponsors will donate money to the program to help the child's family purchase needed items.

Sponsors obtain information about the child and his or her wants and needs, and purchase the gifts for wrapping, labeling and delivery by the distribution date, which this year is Dec. 17. Volunteers at The Beacon collect donated items for distribution to children and families, who pick up the items at a scheduled time and location. The spending limit for sponsors is $25 per child.

Eckles said this year pre-registered families may pick up their assigned donated items between noon and 3 p.m. Thursday at the Community Christian Church, 1919 S. Horton St. Sponsors may take their gifts to the church for distribution on Tuesday and Wednesday, he said.

Parents of registered children are asked to design each child's wish list identifying needed items -- such as food and clothing -- before toys and other gifts. Many sponsors do try to purchase at least one toy for their child, Eckles said.

"The adopting family usually includes a toy," he said. "We usually have a backlog of toys where we can add something for kids who don't receive one."

Last year, a then-record number of children, 368, from 148 families registered for the annual program and each were able to receive sponsorship. There were 25 percent more applicants than the previous year and it was the largest number of registrations in several years.

Since its inception in 2006, the Adopt-A-Child program has provided hundreds of children and families with food and gifts during the Christmas season. Dozens of area volunteers donate time, energy and vehicles to help prepare and distribute donated items each year.

The Elks Lodge organizes and conducts a similar program through SEK-CAP each year that is geared toward helping needy eligible families in Bourbon County during the holiday season. In that program, names of several eligible people are provided by SEK-CAP, and Elks Lodge members volunteer to put together turkey dinners also.