Secret Families of Hamilton County announces the launch of its Christmas Charity event for 2017. First brought to Hamilton County in 2014, Secret Families of Hamilton County has served 62 families, totaling over 300 individuals who have received a complete Christmas.
In 2016, 240 volunteers helped Secret Families provide a very Merry Christmas to families from 15 elementary schools in Hamilton County. Families are selected based on recommendations from elementary school principals and guidance counselors in the local school districts. Every attempt is made to serve all the families whose names Secret Families receives. In 2016, Secret Families served 40 families. Each year as many families as funding allows are served.
Secret Families provides a complete Christmas for each family, including wrapped presents for each member of the household, a live decorated Christmas tree, a $50 Meijer gift card to purchase food for the holiday and a Bible. A total of $550 is spent per family. Gifts purchased are based on family interviews discussing specific needs, sizes, etc. Families also receive a food box containing about 50 pounds of non-perishable food, and an in-kind bag full of household and personal care items.
This year’s event will be on Saturday, Dec. 9. More information is available on the Secret Families of Hamilton County website at secretfamilieshc.org. Donations may be made on the website and volunteers may register to work on Dec. 9 as well.
How can you help? Volunteering your time, making cash donations and donations of wrapping materials are all needed and greatly appreciated. Please consider sponsoring a family for 2015. Perhaps your company would match your generosity as well. This is also a perfect initiative for churches, home groups, social or fraternal clubs, service organizations, or corporations to come together to sponsor one or more families. Donations of any size are appreciated and vital to the program’s success. Secret Families has no paid employees and the only other expenses incurred are bank and credit card fees and website domain name registrations.
Secret Families of Hamilton County is a one-day event. Where else can you donate funds, help purchase gifts with those funds, help wrap the presents purchased and be part of the delivery team getting to see the looks of amazement on the families’ faces? Then you get to come back together to share a meal provided by Chuy’s Fresh Tex Mex as well as hear and share stories from the day’s activities. Every volunteer will tell you their lives have been impacted by being a part of this event. Children are encouraged to participate as well.
The long-term goal for Secret Families is for no child in Hamilton County to be told there will not be any holiday celebration in his or her home this year.
For more information, please email Tom.Flanagan@secretfamilieshc.org or call 317-363-8431.