About
LARS’ Holiday Program is an opportunity for
individuals, families, community groups,
congregations, and businesses to assist Laurel
residents who are in need of support during the
upcoming holiday season.
Adopt–A–Family Program
Each family participating in the Adopt-A-Family program will complete a wish list for each child in the home. This wish list will include the child’s interests, wants, and needs. Donors can adopt a particular number of children and provide gifts for those children based on the information included on their wish lists. We do allow parents to include personal and household needs, but it is up to the donor to decide whether or not they would like to provide anything from that list.
Giving Week
To extend support to as many families as possible, those who are not able to participate in the Adopt-A-Family program are encouraged to provide loose/unwrapped gifts and gift cards. These gifts can include (but are not limited to) books, games, or toys for children birth to 18 years of age. This enables case managers to provide children with gifts suitable for their age/interest.
Holiday Food Help
In November and December, LARS will be providing holiday food to the families participating in LARS’ Adopt-A-Family program and to seniors who request holiday food assistance. LARS will extend holiday food assistance to as many additional individuals and families in the Laurel community as supplies will allow. Donations of food and grocery store gift cards allow us to provide holiday food to more and more families each year. You can donate food in the Lobby on Sunday’s or drop off donations during the week during office hours!
FAQ
Gifts can be dropped off starting Sunday, November 6th. Please ensure that ALL your labeled packages are delivered to Emmanuel by 12PM Sunday, December 4th .
No, there is no obligation to buy the parents or the household gifts (blender, coffee maker, blankets, etc.,). If you would like to donate gifts to the parents or the household, it is preferred to donate a gift card as we will not have any sizing information.
Please MARK EACH PACKAGE CLEARLY with the recipient family’s assigned number (written in the top right corner of the wish list). PLEASE INCLUDE the initials, age, and gender of the intended recipient for each individual package. If possible, please group the items for each individual or for each family into one LARGE labeled bag so that nothing gets lost! *If any of your packages include gift cards, please put them in a separate envelope labeled with the family number and recipient’s initials.
Many families participating in this program are also in need of holiday meals. There is no obligation, but if you want to help LARS provide Thanksgiving and/or Christmas meals for your adopted family, please consider including a grocery gift card so families can purchase their preferred version of a holiday meal.
Food items can also be purchased using LAR’s Amazon Wishlist and shipped directly to LARS https://a.co/3N6kRGn or dropped off in the Lobby on Sunday’s.
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact LARS Volunteer Coordinator, Alli Milner, amilner@laureladvocacy.org