A locally run initiative that pairs families in need with those in the community looking to help is back for a fifth year.
A locally run initiative that pairs families in need with those in the community looking to help is back for a fifth year.
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Adopt-A-Family Stratford started in 2020 as a way to help vulnerable residents when the pandemic shut down food banks and other assistance programs.
“There was an obvious need in the community,” co-founder Ashley Jantzi said. “We thought to ourselves, ‘Why don’t we start our own program so this year there can be something for families?’ Now here we are five years later.”
Adopt-A-Family, which is 100 per cent anonymous, has evolved over the years, but the need has always been great.
“It really fills my heart with joy,” Jantzi said. “(We) like seeing the difference it makes for families who can’t have the same Christmas as other families. There’s an obvious need in the community, and we go year after year, and it gets bigger year after year.”
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Families in need register through a link on the group’s Facebook page. A 2023 tax form is required to ensure those seeking help meet low-income status.
“It’s not something people don’t expect,” Jantzi said, “and people are more than happy to send in their information to us.”
Each family member gets a $50 gift card to the business of their choice, and every family receives a $50 grocery store gift card.
Jantzi and fellow administrators Michelle Jackson and Dan Woods try to pair sponsors with families based on how much is needed and how many people have pledged. Ideally, a family of four would be paired with a sponsor who is giving $250.
“We’re grateful for any donation sponsors want to make,” Jantzi said.
More than 60 families, from one to eight members, have signed up ahead of the Dec. 2 deadline. Jantzi estimates more than $10,000 in gift cards will be distributed.
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There are 26 sponsors registered for 2024 but more are needed to cover the current shortfall of around $1,300. There has never been a year in which every family who applied didn’t get paired with a sponsor, Jantzi said.
“We all wish, especially this time of year, that everyone was able to afford Christmas and there would be no need for food banks and programs like ours,” she said. “Post-COVID it’s not something everyone is able to do, with inflation and wages that haven’t kept up. Now it’s harder than it was five years ago for people. As much as I love this program and doing it, I sometimes wish everyone (didn’t) need this program, but that’s not the case.”
Anyone wishing to sponsor can reach out after Dec. 2. Sponsors drop off gift cards at Stratford’s Market Square on Dec. 8, and families pick up the gift cards Dec. 14.
“I really, truly thought it would be one and done, especially with the pandemic,” Jantzi said. “We didn’t think (the pandemic) would drag on as long as it did. Obviously the need continued, and here in Ontario I feel like COVID lasted longer for us with lockdowns for two years.
“We like running this program and seeing the difference it makes in our community.”
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For more information, visit Adopt-A-Family on Facebook, look for their posts on local community Facebook groups, or email [email protected].
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