Donors and Sponsors make Christmas special

The staff and volunteers of Christian Appalachian Project’s (CAP) Family Advocacy Program spend the entire year preparing for the annual Christmas distribution event to bring holiday cheer to families in Appalachia. In 2020, thanks to you, the program served more than 300 families.

“Throughout the year, staff collect toys, clothing, make-up, and other suitable items to be used as Christmas gifts from donations received by CAP’s Operation Sharing program,” said Joshua Ratliff, a coordinator for CAP’s Family Advocacy program in Johnson, Martin, and Floyd Counties. The program also mails appeal letters to possible sponsors for families. Between 100-150 families are matched with sponsors each year, and CAP serves around 200 additional families with the donations that are sent and collected throughout the year.

You made Christmas possible for 717 children and 592 Adults. That is a total of 354 families.

Family Advocacy begins taking applications from families for Christmas gifts in late July. “Starting in September we transform our Family Advocacy building into a Christmas Wonderland,” Ratliff said. “We set out new clothing on tables by size. We also set out donations of toys, movies, make-up, camping equipment, sporting goods, etc. to ensure we have gifts that are age appropriate for our families.” Using the gift requests on the applications, employees and volunteers sort through the donations and box up Christmas gifts for the families, and a ham for Christmas dinner.

Although CAP was not able to host its annual Christmas party for participants in 2020 or interact with them face to face because of the pandemic, because of you CAP was still able to deliver Christmas Baskets through a drive-thru distribution event. During the pandemic, families have faced unemployment, financial hardship, and food insecurity. The generosity of sponsors and donors have provided comfort and relief to children, their families, and seniors in Appalachia through services like Christmas distribution.

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