Help a Family in Need This Christmas
Updated: December 24, 2012
As the holiday season approaches, most of us anticipate the joy of being with family and friends, gift-giving and a renewed sense of hope and peace. Family Support Network (FSN) invites you to help them spread joy and hope this season to one of the families in our community who struggle to meet their basic needs. By "adopting" a Family Support Network family, you can do just that.
Family Support Network assists over 200 families in the Billings area who are at risk for abuse and neglect, 98% of whom fall below the Federal Poverty Line. The agency recognizes the importance of parents in the lives of their children, and by working with their Family Support Specialists, parents whose children are in foster care gain needed skills to help them be reunited as a family. FSN specialists provide home visits, transportation, referrals and education in budgeting, nutrition and parenting. These services help families remain safe, healthy, independent and most importantly together.
The Adopt-a-Family for Christmas program operates anonymously through the Family Support Specialists. Parents work with the Family Support Specialists to write a "wish list" for a toy and a clothing item for each child, and their Specialist adds something for the parents as well. If you agree to sponsor a family, the agency will send you a wish list---you can choose the size of the family---and you provide the gifts: one toy and clothing item for each child, one gift for each parent. Then the Family Support Specialists will deliver the gifts the week before Christmas. For most of the families, these may be the only gifts they receive during the holiday season.
Many families and groups in the Billings area have made shopping for an adopted FSN family a cherished holiday tradition. Family Support Network hopes you'll join them this year and make it one of yours as well. Please call Family Support Network at 256-7783, and they will send you a family's "wish list". No time to shop? No problem! Just send your cash donation and they will do the rest for you. Your cash donation will help provide gifts for FSN families at Christmas or for other special celebrations throughout the year.
