In 2018, Unit 48 volunteers gathered to wrap presents for the Outreach Adopt-a-Family and Adopt-a-Child program.
Adopt-a-Family and Adopt-a-Child programs brighten holiday season
Ken and Ellen Perkins
For more than a decade, the SaddleBrooke Community Outreach Adopt-a-Family and Adopt-a-Child program has provided hand-picked and carefully wrapped Christmas gifts to local families and Apache children on the San Carlos reservation. In recent years, the program has grown to annually assist about 90 families and 257 Apache children. SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch residents provide the money and volunteer services required to make this program such a rousing success.
Ken and Ellen Perkins have led Adopt-a-Family since 2007 and are continuing to assist other volunteers take over program. As always, residents of SaddleBrooke and SaddleBrooke Ranch are encouraged to donate to the program. If you, your group or your Unit wishes to adopt a family or families, contact Linda Russel at [email protected]. If you prefer to adopt an Apache child or children contact Maggie DeBlock at [email protected].
In addition, volunteers are needed for shopping and wrapping gifts and loading, delivering, and unloading gifts.
We generally use trucks and vans to deliver the gifts but occasionally there is a need for someone with an SUV to help transport gifts, including loading and unloading.
The program also requires a place to store about 250 bags of gifts for the Apache children for about ten days. This could be a home or garage where donations can be deposited and then checked by the program’s audit team to ensure all the presents have been collected before delivered to the San Carlos reservation.
If you would like to volunteer your time and resources to the Adopt-a-Family and Adopt-a-Child program, contact Ken and Ellen Perkins at [email protected] orl 520-300-1092.