With only three days left until Christmas, a Juneau charity is still looking for donations of children’s gifts.
St. Vincent de Paul’s Adopt-A-Family program matches community members with Juneau families who aren’t able to buy Christmas presents for their kids.
“We had a 105 families sign up, and that’s about 300 kids. We still have 15 families that are unadopted and 15 families on the waitlist,” Tamee Martini, St. Vincent de Paul’s housing manager, said on the phone Tuesday.
St. Vincent de Paul tends to be bustling around the holiday season; not this year.
“Usually we have donations lining the hallways and we’re trying to put things everywhere, but the donations have been pretty small this year,” Martini said.
The 105 families in the program include those who live at St. Vincent de Paul’s shelter.
“Christmas is a really stressful time of year for a lot of our parents in the shelter. They just don’t have the resources to provide what they want. All of their resources are going to food and clothing and to keep a roof over their head,” Martini said.
St. Vincent de Paul will remain open until 6 p.m. Friday to accept donations. Those interested in helping can do so in a number of ways. One is by adopting a family, buying gifts and bringing those to St. Vincent de Paul. Another is to simply bring unwrapped toys or gift cards to St. Vincent de Paul. People can also donate online, noting “Christmas.”
St. Vincent de Paul is located at 8617 Teal Street. Call 789-5535, ext. 7 or 4, to adopt a family.
• Contact reporter Lisa Phu at 523-2246 or lisa.phu@juneauempire.com.
