Update: 5:55 a.m. 12/7
PEORIA, Ill. – The Christmas spirit is alive and well among donors wanting to help kids in need this holiday season.
Peoria’s Children’s Home told 25 News Wednesday that the public came through and granted all holiday wish lists just a day after it was reported that about 100 of those wish lists were unfulfilled.
This means all 1,100 of the agency’s young clients will have gifts under the tree this Christmas.
More information about the organization can be found on the Children’s Home Association of Illinois’ website.
PEORIA, Ill. – With Christmas less than three weeks away, the Children’s Home Association of Illinois is asking for help in fulfilling the wish lists of children who might otherwise wake up with no gifts under the tree.
Children’s Home Association President and CEO Scurry Miller tells WMBD’s “Greg and Dan”, it’s easy to sign up to adopt a child or a family for Christmas.
“We’ll take care of all the logistics for you, and you go and do the shopping. We also, quite honestly this time of year, need monetary donations to help us get through the year, to meet the needs of the agency that serves the kids ” Miller says.
A familiar sight on Knoxville Avenue in Peoria is the Children’s Home Association’s original building…which originally was an orphanage. During the holidays, its windows are each lit up with a candle representing the thousands of children they’ve helped over the agency’s 157 years, Miller says.
“These kids have been through multiple traumatic experiences in their lives, they have no stability, they’ve separated and disconnected in every way you can imagine, emotionally and otherwise. So, my view is that our job is to create a nurturing, caring environment so these kids can heal,” Miller says.
The Children’s Home Association still has around 100 wish lists that are unfilled. The deadline to help is December 14.
To learn how you can help this holiday season, click HERE.
